Clouds-radiation interactions in a general circulation model - Impact upon the planetary radiation balance

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Laura D.; Vonder Haar, Thomas H.

1991-01-01

Simultaneously conducted observations of the earth radiation budget and the cloud amount estimates, taken during the June 1979 - May 1980 Nimbus 7 mission were used to show interactions between the cloud amount and raidation and to verify a long-term climate simulation obtained with the latest version of the NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM). The parameterization of the radiative, dynamic, and thermodynamic processes produced the mean radiation and cloud quantities that were in reasonable agreement with satellite observations, but at the expense of simulating their short-term fluctuations. The results support the assumption that the inclusion of the cloud liquid water (ice) variable would be the best mean to reduce the blinking of clouds in NCAR CCM.

Do Cloud Properties in a Puerto Rican Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Depend on Occurrence of Long-Range Transported African Dust?

Science.gov (United States)

Spiegel, Johanna K.; Buchmann, Nina; Mayol-Bracero, Olga L.; Cuadra-Rodriguez, Luis A.; Valle Díaz, Carlos J.; Prather, Kimberly A.; Mertes, Stephan; Eugster, Werner

2014-09-01

We investigated cloud properties of warm clouds in a tropical montane cloud forest at Pico del Este (1,051 m a.s.l.) in the northeastern part of Puerto Rico to address the question of whether cloud properties in the Caribbean could potentially be affected by African dust transported across the Atlantic Ocean. We analyzed data collected during 12 days in July 2011. Cloud droplet size spectra were measured using the FM-100 fog droplet spectrometer that measured droplet size distributions in the range from 2 to 49 µm, primarily during fog events. The droplet size spectra revealed a bimodal structure, with the first peak ( D < 6 µm) being more pronounced in terms of droplet number concentrations, whereas the second peak (10 µm < D < 20 µm) was found to be the one relevant for total liquid water content (LWC) of the cloud. We identified three major clusters of characteristic droplet size spectra by means of hierarchical clustering. All clusters differed significantly from each other in droplet number concentration (), effective diameter (ED), and median volume diameter (MVD). For the cluster comprising the largest droplets and the lowest droplet number concentrations, we found evidence of inhomogeneous mixing in the cloud. Contrastingly, the other two clusters revealed microphysical behavior, which could be expected under homogeneous mixing conditions. For those conditions, an increase in cloud condensation nuclei—e.g., from processed African dust transported to the site—is supposed to lead to an increased droplet concentration. In fact, one of these two clusters showed a clear shift of cloud droplet size spectra towards smaller droplet diameters. Since this cluster occurred during periods with strong evidence for the presence of long-range transported African dust, we hypothesize a link between the observed dust episodes and cloud characteristics in the Caribbean at our site, which is similar to the anthropogenic aerosol indirect effect.

Aerosol effects on cloud water amounts were successfully simulated by a global cloud-system resolving model.

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Yousuke; Goto, Daisuke; Michibata, Takuro; Suzuki, Kentaroh; Takemura, Toshihiko; Tomita, Hirofumi; Nakajima, Teruyuki

2018-03-07

Aerosols affect climate by modifying cloud properties through their role as cloud condensation nuclei or ice nuclei, called aerosol-cloud interactions. In most global climate models (GCMs), the aerosol-cloud interactions are represented by empirical parameterisations, in which the mass of cloud liquid water (LWP) is assumed to increase monotonically with increasing aerosol loading. Recent satellite observations, however, have yielded contradictory results: LWP can decrease with increasing aerosol loading. This difference implies that GCMs overestimate the aerosol effect, but the reasons for the difference are not obvious. Here, we reproduce satellite-observed LWP responses using a global simulation with explicit representations of cloud microphysics, instead of the parameterisations. Our analyses reveal that the decrease in LWP originates from the response of evaporation and condensation processes to aerosol perturbations, which are not represented in GCMs. The explicit representation of cloud microphysics in global scale modelling reduces the uncertainty of climate prediction.

Dense range images from sparse point clouds using multi-scale processing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Do, Q.L.; Ma, L.; With, de P.H.N.

2013-01-01

Multi-modal data processing based on visual and depth/range images has become relevant in computer vision for 3D reconstruction applications such as city modeling, robot navigation etc. In this paper, we generate highaccuracy dense range images from sparse point clouds to facilitate such

GEWEX cloud assessment: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Stubenrauch, Claudia; Rossow, William B.; Kinne, Stefan; Ackerman, Steve; Cesana, Gregory; Chepfer, Hélène; Di Girolamo, Larry; Getzewich, Brian; Guignard, Anthony; Heidinger, Andy; Maddux, Brent; Menzel, Paul; Minnis, Patrick; Pearl, Cindy; Platnick, Steven; Poulsen, Caroline; Riedi, Jérôme; Sayer, Andrew; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Walther, Andi; Winker, Dave; Zeng, Shen; Zhao, Guangyu

2013-05-01

Clouds cover about 70% of the Earth's surface and play a dominant role in the energy and water cycle of our planet. Only satellite observations provide a continuous survey of the state of the atmosphere over the entire globe and across the wide range of spatial and temporal scales that comprise weather and climate variability. Satellite cloud data records now exceed more than 25 years; however, climatologies compiled from different satellite datasets can exhibit systematic biases. Questions therefore arise as to the accuracy and limitations of the various sensors. The Global Energy and Water cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Cloud Assessment, initiated in 2005 by the GEWEX Radiation Panel, provides the first coordinated intercomparison of publicly available, global cloud products (gridded, monthly statistics) retrieved from measurements of multi-spectral imagers (some with multi-angle view and polarization capabilities), IR sounders and lidar. Cloud properties under study include cloud amount, cloud height (in terms of pressure, temperature or altitude), cloud radiative properties (optical depth or emissivity), cloud thermodynamic phase and bulk microphysical properties (effective particle size and water path). Differences in average cloud properties, especially in the amount of high-level clouds, are mostly explained by the inherent instrument measurement capability for detecting and/or identifying optically thin cirrus, especially when overlying low-level clouds. The study of long-term variations with these datasets requires consideration of many factors. The monthly, gridded database presented here facilitates further assessments, climate studies, and the evaluation of climate models.

Characterizing short-range vs. long-range spatial correlations in dislocation distributions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chevy, Juliette; Fressengeas, Claude; Lebyodkin, Mikhail; Taupin, Vincent; Bastie, Pierre; Duval, Paul

2010-01-01

Hard X-ray diffraction experiments have provided evidence of a strongly heterogeneous distribution of dislocation densities along the axis of cylindrical ice single crystals oriented for basal slip in torsion creep. The dislocation arrangements showed a complex scale-invariant character, which was analyzed by means of statistical and multifractal techniques. A trend to decreasing autocorrelation of the dislocation distribution was observed as deformation proceeds. At low strain levels, long-range spatial correlations control the distribution, but short-range correlations in relation with cross-slip progressively prevail when strain increases. This trend was reproduced by a model based on field dislocation dynamics, a theory accounting for both long-range elastic interactions and short-range interactions through transport of dislocation densities.

Characterizing short-range vs. long-range spatial correlations in dislocation distributions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chevy, Juliette, E-mail: juliette.chevy@gmail.com [Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de l' Environnement-CNRS, 54 rue Moliere, 38402 St. Martin d' Heres (France)] [Laboratoire Science et Ingenierie des Materiaux et Procedes, Grenoble INP-CNRS-UJF, BP 75, 38402 St. Martin d' Heres Cedex (France); Fressengeas, Claude; Lebyodkin, Mikhail; Taupin, Vincent [Laboratoire de Physique et Mecanique des Materiaux, Universite Paul Verlaine-Metz/CNRS, Ile du Saulcy, 57045 Metz Cedex (France); Bastie, Pierre [Laboratoire de Spectrometrie Physique, BP 87, 38402 St. Martin d' Heres Cedex (France)] [Institut Laue Langevin, BP 156, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France); Duval, Paul [Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de l' Environnement-CNRS, 54 rue Moliere, 38402 St. Martin d' Heres (France)

2010-03-15

Hard X-ray diffraction experiments have provided evidence of a strongly heterogeneous distribution of dislocation densities along the axis of cylindrical ice single crystals oriented for basal slip in torsion creep. The dislocation arrangements showed a complex scale-invariant character, which was analyzed by means of statistical and multifractal techniques. A trend to decreasing autocorrelation of the dislocation distribution was observed as deformation proceeds. At low strain levels, long-range spatial correlations control the distribution, but short-range correlations in relation with cross-slip progressively prevail when strain increases. This trend was reproduced by a model based on field dislocation dynamics, a theory accounting for both long-range elastic interactions and short-range interactions through transport of dislocation densities.

A novel nuclear dependence of nucleon–nucleon short-range correlations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dai, Hongkai [College of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070 (China); Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Wang, Rong, E-mail: rwang@impcas.ac.cn [Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Huang, Yin [Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Chen, Xurong [Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 (China)

2017-06-10

A linear correlation is found between the magnitude of nucleon–nucleon short-range correlations and the nuclear binding energy per nucleon with pairing energy removed. By using this relation, the strengths of nucleon–nucleon short-range correlations of some unmeasured nuclei are predicted. Discussions on nucleon–nucleon pairing energy and nucleon–nucleon short-range correlations are made. The found nuclear dependence of nucleon–nucleon short-range correlations may shed some lights on the short-range structure of nucleus.

A short overview of the microbial population in clouds: Potential roles in atmospheric chemistry and nucleation processes

Science.gov (United States)

Delort, Anne-Marie; Vaïtilingom, Mickael; Amato, Pierre; Sancelme, Martine; Parazols, Marius; Mailhot, Gilles; Laj, Paolo; Deguillaume, Laurent

2010-11-01

Recent studies showed that living microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi and yeasts, are present in the atmospheric water phase (fog and clouds) and their role in chemical processes may have been underestimated. At the interface between atmospheric science and microbiology, information about this field of science suffers from the fact that not all recent findings are efficiently conveyed to both scientific communities. The purpose of this paper is therefore to provide a short overview of recent work linked to living organisms in the atmospheric water phase, from their activation to cloud droplets and ice crystal, to their potential impact on atmospheric chemical processes. This paper is focused on the microorganisms present in clouds and on the role they could play in atmospheric chemistry and nucleation processes. First, the life cycle of microorganisms via the atmosphere is examined, including their aerosolization from sources, their integration into clouds and their wet deposition on the ground. Second, special attention is paid to the possible impacts of microorganisms on liquid and ice nucleation processes. Third, a short description of the microorganisms that have been found in clouds and their variability in numbers and diversity is presented, emphasizing some specific characteristics that could favour their occurrence in cloud droplets. In the last section, the potential role of microbial activity as an alternative route to photochemical reaction pathways in cloud chemistry is discussed.

Magnetic short-range order in Gd

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Child, H.R.

1978-01-01

The magnetic short-range order in a ferromagnetic, isotopically enriched 160 Gd metal single crystal has been investigated by quasielastic scattering of 81-meV neutrons. Since Gd behaves as an S-state ion in the metal, little anisotropy is expected in its magnetic behavior. However, the data show that there is anisotropic short-range order present over a large temperature interval both above and below T/sub C/. The data have been analyzed in terms of an Ornstein-Zernike Lorentzian form with anisotropic correlation ranges. These correlation ranges as deduced from the observed data behave normally above T/sub C/ but seem to remain constant over a fairly large interval below T/sub C/ before becoming unobservable at lower temperatures. These observations suggest that the magnetic ordering in Gd may be a more complicated phenomenon than first believed

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.

Magnetic short range order and the exchange coupling in magnets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antropov, V.P.

2006-01-01

We discuss our recent results of time-dependent density functional simulations of magnetic properties of Fe and Ni at finite temperatures. These results indicated that a strong magnetic short range order is responsible for the magnetic properties of elementary Ni and any itinerant magnet in general. We demonstrated that one can use the value of the magnetic short range order parameter to produce new quantitative classification of magnets. We also discuss the nature of the exchange coupling and its connection with the short range order. The spin-wave like propagating and diffusive excitations in paramagnetic localized systems with small short range order have been predicted while in the itinerant systems the short range order is more complicated. The possible smallness of the quantum factor in the itinerant magnets with short range order is discussed

Short-range/Long-range Integrated Target (SLIT) for Video Guidance Sensor Rendezvous and Docking

Science.gov (United States)

Roe, Fred D. (Inventor); Bryan, Thomas C. (Inventor)

2009-01-01

A laser target reflector assembly for mounting upon spacecraft having a long-range reflector array formed from a plurality of unfiltered light reflectors embedded in an array pattern upon a hemispherical reflector disposed upon a mounting plate. The reflector assembly also includes a short-range reflector array positioned upon the mounting body proximate to the long-range reflector array. The short-range reflector array includes three filtered light reflectors positioned upon extensions from the mounting body. The three filtered light reflectors retro-reflect substantially all incident light rays that are transmissive by their monochromatic filters and received by the three filtered light reflectors. In one embodiment the short-range reflector array is embedded within the hemispherical reflector,

Measurements of short-range ordering in Ni3Al

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okamoto, J.K.; Ahn, C.C.

1992-01-01

This paper reports on extended electron energy-loss fine structure (EXELFS) that has been used to measure short-range ordering in Ni 3 Al. Films of fcc Ni 3 Al with suppressed short-range order synthesized by vacuum evaporation of Ni 3 Al onto room temperature substrates. EXELFS data were taken from both Al K and Ni L 23 edges. The development of short-range order was observed after the samples were annealed for various times at temperatures below 350 degrees C. Upon comparison with ab initio planewave EXELFS calculations, it was found that the Warren-Cowley short-range order parameter a(1nn) changed by about -0.1 after 210 minutes of annealing at 150 degrees C

Isobar configurations in nuclei and short range correlations

CERN Document Server

Weber, H J

1979-01-01

Recent results on short range correlations and isobar configurations are reviewed, and in particular a unitary version of the isobar model, coupling constants and rho -meson transition potentials, a comparison with experiments, the CERN N*-knockout from /sup 4/He, QCD and the NN interaction of short range. (42 refs).

Short-range communication system

Science.gov (United States)

Alhorn, Dean C. (Inventor); Howard, David E. (Inventor); Smith, Dennis A. (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A short-range communication system includes an antenna, a transmitter, and a receiver. The antenna is an electrical conductor formed as a planar coil with rings thereof being uniformly spaced. The transmitter is spaced apart from the plane of the coil by a gap. An amplitude-modulated and asynchronous signal indicative of a data stream of known peak amplitude is transmitted into the gap. The receiver detects the coil's resonance and decodes same to recover the data stream.

Short-range airborne transmission of expiratory droplets between two people

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Li; Li, Yuguo; Nielsen, Peter Vilhelm

2017-01-01

, ventilation, and breathing mode. Under the specific set of conditions studied, we found a substantial increase in airborne exposure to droplet nuclei exhaled by the source manikin when a susceptible manikin is within about 1.5 m of the source manikin, referred to as the proximity effect. The threshold...... distance of about 1.5 m distinguishes the two basic transmission processes of droplets and droplet nuclei, that is, short-range modes and the long-range airborne route. The short-range modes include both the conventional large droplet route and the newly defined short-range airborne transmission. We thus...... reveal that transmission occurring in close proximity to the source patient includes both droplet-borne (large droplet) and short-range airborne routes, in addition to the direct deposition of large droplets on other body surfaces. The mechanisms of the droplet-borne and short-range airborne routes...

Interactions between vegetation, atmospheric turbulence and clouds under a wide range of background wind conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sikma, M.; Ouwersloot, H.G.; Pedruzo-Bagazgoitia, X.; Heerwaarden, van C.C.; Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, J.

2018-01-01

The effects of plant responses to cumulus (Cu) cloud shading are studied from free convective to shear-driven boundary-layer conditions. By using a large-eddy simulation (LES) coupled to a plant physiology embedded land-surface submodel, we study the vegetation-cloud feedbacks for a wide range (44)

Short range order of selenite glasses

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Neov, S.; Gerasimova, I.; Yordanov, S.; Lakov, L.; Mikula, Pavol; Lukáš, Petr

1999-01-01

Roč. 40, č. 2 (1999), s. 111-112 ISSN 0031-9090 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR KSK1010104 Keywords : short range * selenite glasses Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 0.822, year: 1999

Variability in modeled cloud feedback tied to differences in the climatological spatial pattern of clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Siler, Nicholas; Po-Chedley, Stephen; Bretherton, Christopher S.

2018-02-01

Despite the increasing sophistication of climate models, the amount of surface warming expected from a doubling of atmospheric CO_2 (equilibrium climate sensitivity) remains stubbornly uncertain, in part because of differences in how models simulate the change in global albedo due to clouds (the shortwave cloud feedback). Here, model differences in the shortwave cloud feedback are found to be closely related to the spatial pattern of the cloud contribution to albedo (α) in simulations of the current climate: high-feedback models exhibit lower (higher) α in regions of warm (cool) sea-surface temperatures, and therefore predict a larger reduction in global-mean α as temperatures rise and warm regions expand. The spatial pattern of α is found to be strongly predictive (r=0.84) of a model's global cloud feedback, with satellite observations indicating a most-likely value of 0.58± 0.31 Wm^{-2} K^{-1} (90% confidence). This estimate is higher than the model-average cloud feedback of 0.43 Wm^{-2} K^{-1}, with half the range of uncertainty. The observational constraint on climate sensitivity is weaker but still significant, suggesting a likely value of 3.68 ± 1.30 K (90% confidence), which also favors the upper range of model estimates. These results suggest that uncertainty in model estimates of the global cloud feedback may be substantially reduced by ensuring a realistic distribution of clouds between regions of warm and cool SSTs in simulations of the current climate.

A method of short range system analysis for nuclear utilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eng, R.; Mason, E.A.; Benedict, M.

1976-01-01

An optimization procedure has been formulated and tested that is capable of solving for the optimal generation schedule of several nuclear power reactors in an electric power utility system, under short-range, resource-limited, conditions. The optimization procedure utilizes a new concept called the Opportunity Cost of Nuclear Power (OCNP) to optimally assign the resource-limited nuclear energy to the different weeks and hours in the short-range planning horizon. OCNP is defined as the cost of displaced energy when optimally distributed nuclear energy is marginally increased. Under resource-limited conditions, the short-range 'value' of nuclear power to a utility system is not its actual generation cost, but the cost of the next best alternative supply of energy, the OCNP. OCNP is a function of a week's system reserve capacity, the system's economic loading order, the customer demand function, and the nature of the available utility system generating units. The optimized OCNP value of the short-range planning period represents the utility's short-range energy replacement cost incurred when selling nuclear energy to a neighbouring utility. (author)

Thermodynamic properties of short-range square well fluid

Science.gov (United States)

López-Rendón, R.; Reyes, Y.; Orea, P.

2006-08-01

The interfacial properties of short-range square well fluid with λ =1.15, 1.25, and 1.375 were determined by using single canonical Monte Carlo simulations. Simulations were carried out in the vapor-liquid region. The coexistence curves of these models were calculated and compared to those previously reported in the literature and good agreement was found among them. We found that the surface tension curves for any potential model of short range form a single master curve when we plot γ* vs T /Tc. It is demonstrated that the critical reduced second virial coefficient B2* as a function of interaction range or Tc* is not constant.

Cloud point extraction-flame atomic absorption spectrometry for pre-concentration and determination of trace amounts of silver ions in water samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiupei; Jia, Zhihui; Yang, Xiaocui; Li, Gu; Liao, Xiangjun

2017-03-01

A cloud point extraction (CPE) method was used as a pre-concentration strategy prior to the determination of trace levels of silver in water by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) The pre-concentration is based on the clouding phenomena of non-ionic surfactant, triton X-114, with Ag (I)/diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC) complexes in which the latter is soluble in a micellar phase composed by the former. When the temperature increases above its cloud point, the Ag (I)/DDTC complexes are extracted into the surfactant-rich phase. The factors affecting the extraction efficiency including pH of the aqueous solution, concentration of the DDTC, amount of the surfactant, incubation temperature and time were investigated and optimized. Under the optimal experimental conditions, no interference was observed for the determination of 100 ng·mL -1 Ag + in the presence of various cations below their maximum concentrations allowed in this method, for instance, 50 μg·mL -1 for both Zn 2+ and Cu 2+ , 80 μg·mL -1 for Pb 2+ , 1000 μg·mL -1 for Mn 2+ , and 100 μg·mL -1 for both Cd 2+ and Ni 2+ . The calibration curve was linear in the range of 1-500 ng·mL -1 with a limit of detection (LOD) at 0.3 ng·mL -1 . The developed method was successfully applied for the determination of trace levels of silver in water samples such as river water and tap water.

Short-range solar radiation forecasts over Sweden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Landelius

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In this article the performance for short-range solar radiation forecasts by the global deterministic and ensemble models from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF is compared with an ensemble of the regional mesoscale model HARMONIE-AROME used by the national meteorological services in Sweden, Norway and Finland. Note however that only the control members and the ensemble means are included in the comparison. The models resolution differs considerably with 18 km for the ECMWF ensemble, 9 km for the ECMWF deterministic model, and 2.5 km for the HARMONIE-AROME ensemble.The models share the same radiation code. It turns out that they all underestimate systematically the Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI for clear-sky conditions. Except for this shortcoming, the HARMONIE-AROME ensemble model shows the best agreement with the distribution of observed Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI and DNI values. During mid-day the HARMONIE-AROME ensemble mean performs best. The control member of the HARMONIE-AROME ensemble also scores better than the global deterministic ECMWF model. This is an interesting result since mesoscale models have so far not shown good results when compared to the ECMWF models.Three days with clear, mixed and cloudy skies are used to illustrate the possible added value of a probabilistic forecast. It is shown that in these cases the mesoscale ensemble could provide decision support to a grid operator in terms of forecasts of both the amount of solar power and its probabilities.

Unitarity corrections to short-range order long-range rapidity correlations

CERN Document Server

Capella, A

1978-01-01

Although the effective hadronic forces have short range in rapidity space, one nevertheless expects long-range dynamical correlations induced by unitarity constraints. This paper contains a thorough discussion of long-range rapidity correlations in high-multiplicity events. In particular, the authors analyze in detail the forward- backward multiplicity correlations, measured recently in the whole CERN ISR energy range. They find from these data that the normalized variance of the number n of exchanged cut Pomerons, ((n/(n)-1)/sup 2/) , is most probably in the range 0.32 to 0.36. They show that such a number is obtained from Reggeon theory in the eikonal approximation. The authors also predict a very specific violation of local compensation of charge in multiparticle events: The violation should appear in the fourth-order zone correlation function and is absent in the second-order correlation function, the only one measured until now. (48 refs).

Methods for studying short-range order in solid binary solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beranger, Gerard

1969-12-01

The short range order definition and its characteristic parameters are first recalled. The different methods to study the short range order are then examined: X ray diffusion, electrical resistivity, specific heat and thermoelectric power, neutron diffraction, electron spin resonance, study of thermodynamic and mechanical properties. The theory of the X ray diffraction effects due to short range order and the subsequent experimental method are emphasized. The principal results obtained from binary Systems, by the different experimental techniques, are reported and briefly discussed. The Au-Cu, Li-Mg, Au-Ni and Cu-Zn Systems are moreover described. (author) [fr

Point Cloud Based Relative Pose Estimation of a Satellite in Close Range

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lujiang Liu

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Determination of the relative pose of satellites is essential in space rendezvous operations and on-orbit servicing missions. The key problems are the adoption of suitable sensor on board of a chaser and efficient techniques for pose estimation. This paper aims to estimate the pose of a target satellite in close range on the basis of its known model by using point cloud data generated by a flash LIDAR sensor. A novel model based pose estimation method is proposed; it includes a fast and reliable pose initial acquisition method based on global optimal searching by processing the dense point cloud data directly, and a pose tracking method based on Iterative Closest Point algorithm. Also, a simulation system is presented in this paper in order to evaluate the performance of the sensor and generate simulated sensor point cloud data. It also provides truth pose of the test target so that the pose estimation error can be quantified. To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and achievable pose accuracy, numerical simulation experiments are performed; results demonstrate algorithm capability of operating with point cloud directly and large pose variations. Also, a field testing experiment is conducted and results show that the proposed method is effective.

Amorphous photonic crystals with only short-range order.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Lei; Zhang, Yafeng; Dong, Biqin; Zhan, Tianrong; Liu, Xiaohan; Zi, Jian

2013-10-04

Distinct from conventional photonic crystals with both short- and long-range order, amorphous photonic crystals that possess only short-range order show interesting optical responses owing to their unique structural features. Amorphous photonic crystals exhibit unique light scattering and transport, which lead to a variety of interesting phenomena such as isotropic photonic bandgaps or pseudogaps, noniridescent structural colors, and light localization. Recent experimental and theoretical advances in the study of amorphous photonic crystals are summarized, focusing on their unique optical properties, artificial fabrication, bionspiration, and potential applications. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Short-range components of nuclear forces: Experiment versus mythology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kukulin, V. I.; Platonova, M. N.

2013-01-01

The present-day situation around the description of various (central, spin-orbit, and tensor) components of short-range nuclear forces is discussed. A traditional picture of these interactions based on the idea of one-meson exchange is contrasted against numerous results of recent experiments. As is shown in the present study, these results often deviate strongly from the predictions of traditional models. One can therefore state that such models are inapplicable to describing short-range nuclear forces and that it is necessary to go over from a traditional description to some alternative QCD-based (or QCD-motivated) picture. This means that, despite the widespread popularity of traditional concepts of short-range nuclear forces and their applicability in many particular cases, these concepts are not more than scientific myths that show their inconsistency when analyzed from the viewpoint of the modern experiment

Cloud point extraction-flame atomic absorption spectrometry for pre-concentration and determination of trace amounts of silver ions in water samples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiupei Yang

2017-03-01

Full Text Available A cloud point extraction (CPE method was used as a pre-concentration strategy prior to the determination of trace levels of silver in water by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS The pre-concentration is based on the clouding phenomena of non-ionic surfactant, triton X-114, with Ag (I/diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC complexes in which the latter is soluble in a micellar phase composed by the former. When the temperature increases above its cloud point, the Ag (I/DDTC complexes are extracted into the surfactant-rich phase. The factors affecting the extraction efficiency including pH of the aqueous solution, concentration of the DDTC, amount of the surfactant, incubation temperature and time were investigated and optimized. Under the optimal experimental conditions, no interference was observed for the determination of 100 ng·mL−1 Ag+ in the presence of various cations below their maximum concentrations allowed in this method, for instance, 50 μg·mL−1 for both Zn2+ and Cu2+, 80 μg·mL−1 for Pb2+, 1000 μg·mL−1 for Mn2+, and 100 μg·mL−1 for both Cd2+ and Ni2+. The calibration curve was linear in the range of 1–500 ng·mL−1 with a limit of detection (LOD at 0.3 ng·mL−1. The developed method was successfully applied for the determination of trace levels of silver in water samples such as river water and tap water.

A cloud climatology of the Southern Great Plains ARM CART

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lazarus, S.M.; Krueger, S.K.; Mace, G.G.

2000-05-15

Cloud amount statistics from three different sources were processed and compared. Surface observations from a National Centers for Environmental Prediction dataset were used. The data (Edited Cloud Report; ECR) consist of synoptic weather reports that have been edited to facilitate cloud analysis. Two stations near the Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Test Bed (CART) in north-central Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Wichita, Kansas) were selected. The ECR data span a 10-yr period from December 1981 to November 1991. The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) provided cloud amounts over the SGP CART for an 8-yr period (1983--91). Cloud amounts were also obtained from Micro Pulse Lidar (MPL) and Belfort Ceilometer (BLC) cloud-base height measurements made at the SGP CART over a 1-yr period. The annual and diurnal cycles of cloud amount as a function of cloud height and type were analyzed. The three datasets closely agree for total cloud amount. Good agreement was found in the ECR and MPL-BLC monthly low cloud amounts. With the exception of summer and midday in other seasons, the ISCCP low cloud amount estimates are generally 5%--10% less than the others. The ECR high cloud amount estimates are typically 10%--15% greater than those obtained from either the ISCCP or MPL-BLC datasets. The observed diurnal variations of altocumulus support the authors' model results of radiatively induced circulations.

Evaluation of NCMRWF unified model vertical cloud structure with CloudSat over the Indian summer monsoon region

Science.gov (United States)

Jayakumar, A.; Mamgain, Ashu; Jisesh, A. S.; Mohandas, Saji; Rakhi, R.; Rajagopal, E. N.

2016-05-01

Representation of rainfall distribution and monsoon circulation in the high resolution versions of NCMRWF Unified model (NCUM-REG) for the short-range forecasting of extreme rainfall event is vastly dependent on the key factors such as vertical cloud distribution, convection and convection/cloud relationship in the model. Hence it is highly relevant to evaluate the vertical structure of cloud and precipitation of the model over the monsoon environment. In this regard, we utilized the synergy of the capabilities of CloudSat data for long observational period, by conditioning it for the synoptic situation of the model simulation period. Simulations were run at 4-km grid length with the convective parameterization effectively switched off and on. Since the sample of CloudSat overpasses through the monsoon domain is small, the aforementioned methodology may qualitatively evaluate the vertical cloud structure for the model simulation period. It is envisaged that the present study will open up the possibility of further improvement in the high resolution version of NCUM in the tropics for the Indian summer monsoon associated rainfall events.

Positional short-range order in the nematic phase of n BABAs

Science.gov (United States)

Usha Deniz, K.; Pepy, G.; Parette, G.; Keller, P.

1991-10-01

The positional short-range order, SRO ⊥, perpendicular to the nematic director n̂ has been studied in the fibre-type nematics, nBABAs, by neutron diffraction. SRO ⊥ is found to be dependent on other types of nematic short-range order but not on the orientational long-range order.

The CLOUD experiment

CERN Multimedia

Maximilien Brice

2006-01-01

The Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets (CLOUD) experiment as shown by Jasper Kirkby (spokesperson). Kirkby shows a sketch to illustrate the possible link between galactic cosmic rays and cloud formations. The CLOUD experiment uses beams from the PS accelerator at CERN to simulate the effect of cosmic rays on cloud formations in the Earth's atmosphere. It is thought that cosmic ray intensity is linked to the amount of low cloud cover due to the formation of aerosols, which induce condensation.

Implementing Molecular Dynamics for Hybrid High Performance Computers - 1. Short Range Forces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, W. Michael; Wang, Peng; Plimpton, Steven J.; Tharrington, Arnold N.

2011-01-01

The use of accelerators such as general-purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs) have become popular in scientific computing applications due to their low cost, impressive floating-point capabilities, high memory bandwidth, and low electrical power requirements. Hybrid high performance computers, machines with more than one type of floating-point processor, are now becoming more prevalent due to these advantages. In this work, we discuss several important issues in porting a large molecular dynamics code for use on parallel hybrid machines - (1) choosing a hybrid parallel decomposition that works on central processing units (CPUs) with distributed memory and accelerator cores with shared memory, (2) minimizing the amount of code that must be ported for efficient acceleration, (3) utilizing the available processing power from both many-core CPUs and accelerators, and (4) choosing a programming model for acceleration. We present our solution to each of these issues for short-range force calculation in the molecular dynamics package LAMMPS. We describe algorithms for efficient short range force calculation on hybrid high performance machines. We describe a new approach for dynamic load balancing of work between CPU and accelerator cores. We describe the Geryon library that allows a single code to compile with both CUDA and OpenCL for use on a variety of accelerators. Finally, we present results on a parallel test cluster containing 32 Fermi GPGPUs and 180 CPU cores.

Magnetism and atomic short-range order in Ni-Rh alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Carnegie, D. W., Jr.; Claus, H.

1984-07-01

Low-field ac susceptibility measurements of Ni-Rh samples of various concentrations are presented. Giant effects of the metallurgical state on the magnetic ordering temperature are associated with changes in the degree of atomic short-range order. By careful control of this degree of short-range order, it is possible to demonstrate the existence of a spin-glass state in Ni-Rh alloys.

Using Deep Learning Model for Meteorological Satellite Cloud Image Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Su, X.

2017-12-01

A satellite cloud image contains much weather information such as precipitation information. Short-time cloud movement forecast is important for precipitation forecast and is the primary means for typhoon monitoring. The traditional methods are mostly using the cloud feature matching and linear extrapolation to predict the cloud movement, which makes that the nonstationary process such as inversion and deformation during the movement of the cloud is basically not considered. It is still a hard task to predict cloud movement timely and correctly. As deep learning model could perform well in learning spatiotemporal features, to meet this challenge, we could regard cloud image prediction as a spatiotemporal sequence forecasting problem and introduce deep learning model to solve this problem. In this research, we use a variant of Gated-Recurrent-Unit(GRU) that has convolutional structures to deal with spatiotemporal features and build an end-to-end model to solve this forecast problem. In this model, both the input and output are spatiotemporal sequences. Compared to Convolutional LSTM(ConvLSTM) model, this model has lower amount of parameters. We imply this model on GOES satellite data and the model perform well.

A short-range ensemble prediction system for southern Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Park, R

2012-10-01

Full Text Available system for southern Africa R PARK, WA LANDMAN AND F ENGELBRECHT CSIR, PO Box 395, Pretoria, South Africa, 0001 Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@csir.co.za ? www.csir.co.za INTRODUCTION This research has been conducted in order to develop a short-range ensemble... stream_source_info Park_2012.pdf.txt stream_content_type text/plain stream_size 7211 Content-Encoding ISO-8859-1 stream_name Park_2012.pdf.txt Content-Type text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 A short-range ensemble prediction...

Properties of short-range and long-range correlation energy density functionals from electron-electron coalescence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gori-Giorgi, Paola; Savin, Andreas

2006-01-01

The combination of density-functional theory with other approaches to the many-electron problem through the separation of the electron-electron interaction into a short-range and a long-range contribution is a promising method, which is raising more and more interest in recent years. In this work some properties of the corresponding correlation energy functionals are derived by studying the electron-electron coalescence condition for a modified (long-range-only) interaction. A general relation for the on-top (zero electron-electron distance) pair density is derived, and its usefulness is discussed with some examples. For the special case of the uniform electron gas, a simple parametrization of the on-top pair density for a long-range only interaction is presented and supported by calculations within the ''extended Overhauser model.'' The results of this work can be used to build self-interaction corrected short-range correlation energy functionals

Cloud vertical structure, precipitation, and cloud radiative effects over Tibetan Plateau

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Y.; Yan, Y.; Lu, J.

2017-12-01

The vertical structure of clouds and its connection with precipitation and cloud radiative effects (CRE) over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are analyzed and compared with its neighboring land and tropical oceans based on CloudSat and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) products and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation data. Unique characteristics of cloud vertical structure and CRE over the TP are found. The cloud amount shows seasonal variation over the TP, which presents a single peak (located in 7-11 km) during January to April and two peaks (located in 5-8 km and 11-17 km separately) after mid-June, and then resumes to one peak (located in 5-10 km) after mid-August. Topography-induced restriction on moisture supply leads to a compression effect on clouds, i.e., the reduction in both cloud thickness and number of cloud layers, over the TP. The topography-induced compression effect is also shown in the range in the variation of cloud thickness and cloud-top height corresponding to different precipitation intensity, which is much smaller over the TP than its neighboring regions. In summer, cloud ice particles over the TP are mostly located at lower altitude (5-10 km) with richer variety of sizes and aggregation in no rain conditions compared to other regions. Ice water content becomes abundant and the number concentration tends to be dense at higher levels when precipitation is enhanced. The longwave CRE in the atmosphere over the TP is a net cooling effect. The vertical structure of CRE over the TP is unique compared to other regions: there exists a strong cooling layer of net CRE at the altitude of 8 km, from June to the beginning of October; the net radiative heating layer above the surface is shallower but stronger underneath 7 km and with a stronger seasonal variation over the TP.

Taxonomy of cloud computing services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoefer, C.N.; Karagiannis, Georgios

2010-01-01

Cloud computing is a highly discussed topic, and many big players of the software industry are entering the development of cloud services. Several companies want to explore the possibilities and benefits of cloud computing, but with the amount of cloud computing services increasing quickly, the need

Short-range correlations in quark and nuclear matter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Froemel, Frank

2007-06-15

In the first part of this thesis, the role of short-range correlations in quark matter is explored within the framework of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. Starting from a next-to-leading order expansion in the inverse number of the quark colors, a fully self-consistent model constructed that employs the close relations between spectral functions and self-energies. In contrast to the usual quasiparticle approximations, this approach allows the investigation of the collisional broadening of the quark spectral function. Numerical calculations at various chemical potentials and zero temperature show that the short-range correlations do not only induce a finite width of the spectral function but also have some influence on the structure of the chiral phase transition. In the second part of this thesis, the temperature and density dependence of the nucleon spectral function in symmetric nuclear matter is investigated. The short-range correlations can be well described by a simple, self-consistent model on the one-particle-two-hole and two-particle-one-hole level (1p2h, 2p1h). The thermodynamically consistent description of the mean-field properties of the nucleons is ensured by incorporating a Skyrme-type potential. Calculations at temperatures and densities that can also be found in heavy-ion collisions or supernova explosions and the formation of neutron stars show that the correlations saturate at high temperatures and densities. (orig.)

Comparasion of Cloud Cover restituted by POLDER and MODIS

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, S.; Parol, F.; Riedi, J.; Cornet, C.; Thieuxleux, F.

2009-04-01

PARASOL and AQUA are two sun-synchronous orbit satellites in the queue of A-Train satellites that observe our earth within a few minutes apart from each other. Aboard these two platforms, POLDER and MODIS provide coincident observations of the cloud cover with very different characteristics. These give us a good opportunity to study the clouds system and evaluate strengths and weaknesses of each dataset in order to provide an accurate representation of global cloud cover properties. This description is indeed of outermost importance to quantify and understand the effect of clouds on global radiation budget of the earth-atmosphere system and their influence on the climate changes. We have developed a joint dataset containing both POLDER and MODIS level 2 cloud products collocated and reprojected on a common sinusoidal grid in order to make the data comparison feasible and veracious. Our foremost work focuses on the comparison of both spatial distribution and temporal variation of the global cloud cover. This simple yet critical cloud parameter need to be clearly understood to allow further comparison of the other cloud parameters. From our study, we demonstrate that on average these two sensors both detect the clouds fairly well. They provide similar spatial distributions and temporal variations:both sensors see high values of cloud amount associated with deep convection in ITCZ, over Indonesia, and in west-central Pacific Ocean warm pool region; they also provide similar high cloud cover associated to mid-latitude storm tracks, to Indian monsoon or to the stratocumulus along the west coast of continents; on the other hand small cloud amounts that typically present over subtropical oceans and deserts in subsidence aeras are well identified by both POLDER and MODIS. Each sensor has its advantages and inconveniences for the detection of a particular cloud types. With higher spatial resolution, MODIS can better detect the fractional clouds thus explaining as one part

Cloud Computing and Business Intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandru Adrian TOLE

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The complexity of data resulting from business process is becoming overwhelming for the systems that don't use shared resources. Many aspects of the business process must be recorded and analysed in a short period of time with no errors at all. In order to obtain these results, so that management and other departments know what their next decision/job will be, there must be a continuous exchange and processing of information. "Cloud Computing" is the solution to overcome the problem of processing large amounts of data. By using this technology organizations have the benefit of using shared resources from various systems that are able to face large amount of data processing. This benefits does not only resume to a high performance system but also the costs of using such architecture are much lower.

Level shifts induced by a short-range potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karnakov, B.M.; Mur, V.D.

1984-01-01

Formulas are derived which express the shifts of levels with energies Esub(n)sup((0)) << rsub(c)sup(-2) in a field Vsub(f)(r) induced by a short-range potential U(r) of radius rsub(c) in terms of the low energy scattering parameters (scattering length and effective radius) with a moment l in the potential. If the interaction between the particle and center is nonresonant, the method developed is identical to perturbation theory on the scattering length. The theory is extended to systems with random degeneracy (Vsub(f) is the Coulomb potential). Formulas describing quasi-intersection of terms are obtained for the case of resonance interaction with the center in a partial wave with l not equal to 0 when energetically close levels are present in both U and Vsub(f). Some features of the level shift are mentioned for the case when the level possesses an anomalously small coupling energy and its coresponding wave function becomes delocalized with decrease of the coupling energy to zero. The problem is discussed of the level shift when the potential Vsub(f) is a potential well surrounded by a weaklyt penetrable barrier. Some applications of the theory to a particle in the field of two short-range potentials or in the field of a short-range and Coulomb centers are considered. Formulas are also obtained for the shifts and widths of the Landau levels and of the shallow level with an arbitrary moment which perturbs the Landau levels

Observations and Model Simulations of Orographic Mixed-Phase Clouds at Mountain Range Site

Science.gov (United States)

Lohmann, U.; Henneberg, O. C.; Henneberger, J.

2014-12-01

Aerosol-cloud interactions constitute the highest uncertainties in forcing estimation. Especially uncertainties due to mixed clouds (MPCs) have a large impact on the radiative balance and precipitation prediction. Due to Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen-process (WBF) which describes glaciation of MPCs due to the lower saturation over ice than over water, MPCs are mostly expected as short lived clouds. In contrast to the theory of the WBF, in-situ measurements have shown that MPCs can persist over longer time. But only a small number of measurements of MPCs is available. In addition modeling studies about MPCs are difficult as their processes of the three-phase-system are on the micro scale and therefore not resolved in models. We present measurements obtained at the high-altitude research station Jungfraujoch (JFJ, 3580 m asl) in the Swiss Alps partly taken during the CLoud-Aerosol Interaction Experiments (CLACE). During the winter season, the JFJ has a high frequency of super-cooled clouds and is considered representative for being in the free troposphere. In-situ measurements of the microstructure of MPCs have been obtained with the digital imager HOLIMO, that delivers phase-resolved size distributions, concentrations, and water contents. The data set of MPCs at JFJ shows that for northerly wind cases partially-glaciated MPCs are more frequently observed than for southerly wind cases. The higher frequency of these intermediate states of MPCs suggests either higher updraft velocities, and therefore higher water-vapor supersaturations, or the absence of sufficiently high IN concentrations to quickly glaciate the MPC. Because of the limitation of in-situ information, i.e. point measurements and missing measurements of vertical velocities at JFJ, the mechanism of the long persistence of MPCs cannot be fully understood. Therefore, in addition to measurements we will investigate the JFJ region with a model study with the non-hydrostatic model COSMO-ART-M7. Combination of km

Cloud computing for protein-ligand binding site comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Che-Lun; Hua, Guan-Jie

2013-01-01

The proteome-wide analysis of protein-ligand binding sites and their interactions with ligands is important in structure-based drug design and in understanding ligand cross reactivity and toxicity. The well-known and commonly used software, SMAP, has been designed for 3D ligand binding site comparison and similarity searching of a structural proteome. SMAP can also predict drug side effects and reassign existing drugs to new indications. However, the computing scale of SMAP is limited. We have developed a high availability, high performance system that expands the comparison scale of SMAP. This cloud computing service, called Cloud-PLBS, combines the SMAP and Hadoop frameworks and is deployed on a virtual cloud computing platform. To handle the vast amount of experimental data on protein-ligand binding site pairs, Cloud-PLBS exploits the MapReduce paradigm as a management and parallelizing tool. Cloud-PLBS provides a web portal and scalability through which biologists can address a wide range of computer-intensive questions in biology and drug discovery.

The effect of short-range spatial variability on soil sampling uncertainty

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perk, Marcel van der [Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht (Netherlands)], E-mail: m.vanderperk@geo.uu.nl; De Zorzi, Paolo; Barbizzi, Sabrina; Belli, Maria [Agenzia per la Protezione dell' Ambiente e per i Servizi Tecnici (APAT), Servizio Laboratori, Misure ed Attivita di Campo, Via di Castel Romano, 100-00128 Roma (Italy); Fajgelj, Ales; Sansone, Umberto [International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Agency' s Laboratories Seibersdorf, A-1400 Vienna (Austria); Jeran, Zvonka; Jacimovic, Radojko [Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia)

2008-11-15

This paper aims to quantify the soil sampling uncertainty arising from the short-range spatial variability of elemental concentrations in the topsoils of agricultural, semi-natural, and contaminated environments. For the agricultural site, the relative standard sampling uncertainty ranges between 1% and 5.5%. For the semi-natural area, the sampling uncertainties are 2-4 times larger than in the agricultural area. The contaminated site exhibited significant short-range spatial variability in elemental composition, which resulted in sampling uncertainties of 20-30%.

The effect of short-range spatial variability on soil sampling uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Van der Perk, Marcel; de Zorzi, Paolo; Barbizzi, Sabrina; Belli, Maria; Fajgelj, Ales; Sansone, Umberto; Jeran, Zvonka; Jaćimović, Radojko

2008-11-01

This paper aims to quantify the soil sampling uncertainty arising from the short-range spatial variability of elemental concentrations in the topsoils of agricultural, semi-natural, and contaminated environments. For the agricultural site, the relative standard sampling uncertainty ranges between 1% and 5.5%. For the semi-natural area, the sampling uncertainties are 2-4 times larger than in the agricultural area. The contaminated site exhibited significant short-range spatial variability in elemental composition, which resulted in sampling uncertainties of 20-30%.

Comparison of Cloud Properties from CALIPSO-CloudSat and Geostationary Satellite Data

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, L.; Minnis, P.; Chang, F.; Winker, D.; Sun-Mack, S.; Spangenberg, D.; Austin, R.

2007-01-01

Cloud properties are being derived in near-real time from geostationary satellite imager data for a variety of weather and climate applications and research. Assessment of the uncertainties in each of the derived cloud parameters is essential for confident use of the products. Determination of cloud amount, cloud top height, and cloud layering is especially important for using these real -time products for applications such as aircraft icing condition diagnosis and numerical weather prediction model assimilation. Furthermore, the distribution of clouds as a function of altitude has become a central component of efforts to evaluate climate model cloud simulations. Validation of those parameters has been difficult except over limited areas where ground-based active sensors, such as cloud radars or lidars, have been available on a regular basis. Retrievals of cloud properties are sensitive to the surface background, time of day, and the clouds themselves. Thus, it is essential to assess the geostationary satellite retrievals over a variety of locations. The availability of cloud radar data from CloudSat and lidar data from CALIPSO make it possible to perform those assessments over each geostationary domain at 0130 and 1330 LT. In this paper, CloudSat and CALIPSO data are matched with contemporaneous Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), Multi-functional Transport Satellite (MTSAT), and Meteosat-8 data. Unlike comparisons with cloud products derived from A-Train imagers, this study considers comparisons of nadir active sensor data with off-nadir retrievals. These matched data are used to determine the uncertainties in cloud-top heights and cloud amounts derived from the geostationary satellite data using the Clouds and the Earth s Radiant Energy System (CERES) cloud retrieval algorithms. The CERES multi-layer cloud detection method is also evaluated to determine its accuracy and limitations in the off-nadir mode. The results will be useful for

Long range trajectories

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allen, P. W.; Jessup, E. A.; White, R. E. [Air Resources Field Research Office, Las Vegas, Nevada (United States)

1967-07-01

A single air molecule can have a trajectory that can be described with a line, but most meteorologists use single lines to represent the trajectories of air parcels. A single line trajectory has the disadvantage that it is a categorical description of position. Like categorized forecasts it provides no qualification, and no provision for dispersion in case the parcel contains two or more molecules which may take vastly different paths. Diffusion technology has amply demonstrated that an initial aerosol cloud or volume of gas in the atmosphere not only grows larger, but sometimes divides into puffs, each having a different path or swath. Yet, the average meteorologist, faced with the problem of predicting the future motion of a cloud, usually falls back on the line trajectory approach with the explanation that he had no better tool for long range application. In his more rational moments, he may use some arbitrary device to spread his cloud with distance. One such technique has been to separate the trajectory into two or more trajectories, spaced about the endpoint of the original trajectory after a short period of travel, repeating this every so often like a chain reaction. This has the obvious disadvantage of involving a large amount of labor without much assurance of improved accuracy. Another approach is to draw a circle about the trajectory endpoint, to represent either diffusion or error. The problem then is to know what radius to give the circle and also whether to call it diffusion or error. Meteorologists at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) are asked frequently to provide advice which involves trajectory technology, such as prediction of an aerosol cloud path, reconstruction of the motion of a volume of air, indication of the dilution, and the possible trajectory prediction error over great distances. Therefore, we set out, nearly three years ago, to provide some statistical knowledge about the status of our trajectory technology. This report contains some of the

Radiative effect differences between multi-layered and single-layer clouds derived from CERES, CALIPSO, and CloudSat data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Jiming; Yi Yuhong; Minnis, Patrick; Huang Jianping; Yan Hongru; Ma Yuejie; Wang Wencai; Kirk Ayers, J.

2011-01-01

Clouds alter general circulation through modification of the radiative heating profile within the atmosphere. Their effects are complex and depend on height, vertical structure, and phase. The instantaneous cloud radiative effect (CRE) induced by multi-layered (ML) and single-layer (SL) clouds is estimated by analyzing data collected by the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO), CloudSat, and Clouds and Earth's Radiation Energy Budget System (CERES) missions from March 2007 through February 2008. The CRE differences between ML and SL clouds at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and at the surface were also examined. The zonal mean shortwave (SW) CRE differences between the ML and SL clouds at the TOA and surface were positive at most latitudes, peaking at 120 W m -2 in the tropics and dropping to -30 W m -2 at higher latitudes. This indicated that the ML clouds usually reflected less sunlight at the TOA and transmitted more to the surface than the SL clouds, due to their higher cloud top heights. The zonal mean longwave (LW) CRE differences between ML and SL clouds at the TOA and surface were relatively small, ranging from -30 to 30 W m -2 . This showed that the ML clouds only increased the amount of thermal radiation at the TOA relative to the SL clouds in the tropics, decreasing it elsewhere. In other words, ML clouds tended to cool the atmosphere in the tropics and warm it elsewhere when compared to SL clouds. The zonal mean net CRE differences were positive at most latitudes and dominated by the SW CRE differences.

Dependability investigation of wireless short range embedded systems: hardware platform oriented approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Senouci, B.; Kerkhoff, Hans G.; Annema, Anne J.; Bentum, Marinus Jan

2015-01-01

A new direction in short-range wireless applications has appeared in the form of high-speed data communication devices for distances of hundreds meters. Behind these embedded applications, a complex heterogeneous architecture is built. Moreover, these short range communications are introduced into

Narrow resonances and short-range interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gelman, Boris A.

2009-01-01

Narrow resonances in systems with short-range interactions are discussed in an effective field theory (EFT) framework. An effective Lagrangian is formulated in the form of a combined expansion in powers of a momentum Q 0 | 0 --a resonance peak energy. At leading order in the combined expansion, a two-body scattering amplitude is the sum of a smooth background term of order Q 0 and a Breit-Wigner term of order Q 2 (δε) -1 which becomes dominant for δε 3 . Such an EFT is applicable to systems in which short-distance dynamics generates a low-lying quasistationary state. The EFT is generalized to describe a narrow low-lying resonance in a system of charged particles. It is shown that in the case of Coulomb repulsion, a two-body scattering amplitude at leading order in a combined expansion is the sum of a Coulomb-modified background term and a Breit-Wigner amplitude with parameters renormalized by Coulomb interactions.

Genomics With Cloud Computing

OpenAIRE

Sukhamrit Kaur; Sandeep Kaur

2015-01-01

Abstract Genomics is study of genome which provides large amount of data for which large storage and computation power is needed. These issues are solved by cloud computing that provides various cloud platforms for genomics. These platforms provides many services to user like easy access to data easy sharing and transfer providing storage in hundreds of terabytes more computational power. Some cloud platforms are Google genomics DNAnexus and Globus genomics. Various features of cloud computin...

Preliminary Results from the First Deployment of a Tethered-Balloon Cloud Particle Imager Instrument Package in Arctic Stratus Clouds at Ny-Alesund

Science.gov (United States)

Lawson, P.; Stamnes, K.; Stamnes, J.; Zmarzly, P.; O'Connor, D.; Koskulics, J.; Hamre, B.

2008-12-01

A tethered balloon system specifically designed to collect microphysical data in mixed-phase clouds was deployed in Arctic stratus clouds during May 2008 near Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, at 79 degrees North Latitude. This is the first time a tethered balloon system with a cloud particle imager (CPI) that records high-resolution digital images of cloud drops and ice particles has been operated in cloud. The custom tether supplies electrical power to the instrument package, which in addition to the CPI houses a 4-pi short-wavelength radiometer and a met package that measures temperature, humidity, pressure, GPS position, wind speed and direction. The instrument package was profiled vertically through cloud up to altitudes of 1.6 km. Since power was supplied to the instrument package from the ground, it was possible to keep the balloon package aloft for extended periods of time, up to 9 hours at Ny- Ålesund, which was limited only by crew fatigue. CPI images of cloud drops and the sizes, shapes and degree of riming of ice particles are shown throughout vertical profiles of Arctic stratus clouds. The images show large regions of mixed-phase cloud from -8 to -2 C. The predominant ice crystal habits in these regions are needles and aggregates of needles. The amount of ice in the mixed-phase clouds varied considerably and did not appear to be a function of temperature. On some occasions, ice was observed near cloud base at -2 C with supercooled cloud above to - 8 C that was devoid of ice. Measurements of shortwave radiation are also presented. Correlations between particle distributions and radiative measurements will be analyzed to determine the effect of these Arctic stratus clouds on radiative forcing.

Georeferenced Point Clouds: A Survey of Features and Point Cloud Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johannes Otepka

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a survey of georeferenced point clouds. Concentration is, on the one hand, put on features, which originate in the measurement process themselves, and features derived by processing the point cloud. On the other hand, approaches for the processing of georeferenced point clouds are reviewed. This includes the data structures, but also spatial processing concepts. We suggest a categorization of features into levels that reflect the amount of processing. Point clouds are found across many disciplines, which is reflected in the versatility of the literature suggesting specific features.

Brownian motion in short range random potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romero, A.H.; Romero, A.H.; Sancho, J.M.

1998-01-01

A numerical study of Brownian motion of noninteracting particles in random potentials is presented. The dynamics are modeled by Langevin equations in the high friction limit. The random potentials are Gaussian distributed and short ranged. The simulations are performed in one and two dimensions. Different dynamical regimes are found and explained. Effective subdiffusive exponents are obtained and commented on. copyright 1998 The American Physical Society

Approach for measuring the chemistry of individual particles in the size range critical for cloud formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zauscher, Melanie D; Moore, Meagan J K; Lewis, Gregory S; Hering, Susanne V; Prather, Kimberly A

2011-03-15

Aerosol particles, especially those ranging from 50 to 200 nm, strongly impact climate by serving as nuclei upon which water condenses and cloud droplets form. However, the small number of analytical methods capable of measuring the composition of particles in this size range, particularly at the individual particle level, has limited our knowledge of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) composition and hence our understanding of aerosols effect on climate. To obtain more insight into particles in this size range, we developed a method which couples a growth tube (GT) to an ultrafine aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometer (UF-ATOFMS), a combination that allows in situ measurements of the composition of individual particles as small as 38 nm. The growth tube uses water to grow particles to larger sizes so they can be optically detected by the UF-ATOFMS, extending the size range to below 100 nm with no discernible changes in particle composition. To gain further insight into the temporal variability of aerosol chemistry and sources, the GT-UF-ATOFMS was used for online continuous measurements over a period of 3 days.

A Climatology of Midlatitude Continental Clouds from the ARM SGP Central Facility. Part II; Cloud Fraction and Radiative Forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Xiquan; Xi, Baike; Minnis, Patrick

2006-01-01

Data collected at the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) central facility are analyzed for determining the variability of cloud fraction and radiative forcing at several temporal scales between January 1997 and December 2002. Cloud fractions are estimated for total cloud cover and for single-layer low (0-3 km), middle (3-6 km), and high clouds (greater than 6 km) using ARM SGP ground-based paired lidar-radar measurements. Shortwave (SW), longwave (LW), and net cloud radiative forcings (CRF) are derived from up- and down-looking standard precision spectral pyranometers and precision infrared radiometer measurements. The annual averages of total, and single-layer, nonoverlapped low, middle and high cloud fractions are 0.49, 0.11, 0.03, and 0.17, respectively. Total and low cloud amounts were greatest from December through March and least during July and August. The monthly variation of high cloud amount is relatively small with a broad maximum from May to August. During winter, total cloud cover varies diurnally with a small amplitude, mid-morning maximum and early evening minimum, and during summer it changes by more than 0.14 over the daily cycle with a pronounced early evening minimum. The diurnal variations of mean single-layer cloud cover change with season and cloud height. Annual averages of all-sky, total, and single-layer high, middle, and low LW CRFs are 21.4, 40.2, 16.7, 27.2, and 55.0 Wm(sup -2), respectively; and their SW CRFs are -41.5, -77.2, -37.0, -47.0, and -90.5 Wm(sup -2). Their net CRFs range from -20 to -37 Wm(sup -2). For all-sky, total, and low clouds, the maximum negative net CRFs of -40.1, -70, and -69.5 Wm(sup -2), occur during April; while the respective minimum values of -3.9, -5.7, and -4.6 Wm(sup -2), are found during December. July is the month having maximum negative net CRF of -46.2 Wm(sup -2) for middle clouds, and May has the maximum value of -45.9 Wm(sup -2) for high clouds. An

Schroedinger operators with point interactions and short range expansions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albeverio, S.; Hoeegh-Krohn, R.; Oslo Univ.

1984-01-01

We give a survey of recent results concerning Schroedinger operators with point interactions in R 3 . In the case where the point interactions are located at a discrete set of points we discuss results about the resolvent, the spectrum, the resonances and the scattering quantities. We also discuss the approximation of point interactions by short range local potentials (short range or low energy expansions) and the one electron model of a 3-dimensional crystal. Moreover we discuss Schroedinger operators with Coulomb plus point interactions, with applications to the determination of scattering lengths and of level shifts in mesic atoms. Further applications to the multiple well problem, to multiparticle systems, to crystals with random impurities, to polymers and quantum fields are also briefly discussed. (orig.)

Intermediate- and short-range order in phosphorus-selenium glasses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bytchkov, Aleksei; Hennet, Louis; Price, David L.; Miloshova, Mariana; Bychkov, Eugene; Kohara, Shinji

2011-01-01

State-of-the-art neutron and x-ray diffraction measurements have been performed to provide a definitive picture of the intermediate- and short-range structures of P x Se 1-x glasses spanning two glass regions, x 0.025-0.54 and 0.64-0.84. Liquid P 4 Se 3 and amorphous red P and Se were also measured. Detailed information was obtained about the development with increasing phosphorous concentration of intermediate-range order on the length scale ∼6 A ring , based on the behavior of the first sharp diffraction peak. Attention is also paid to the feature in the structure factor at 7.5 A ring -1 , identified in earlier numerical simulations, provides further evidence of the existence of molecular units. The real-space transforms yield a reliable statistical picture of the changing short-range order as x increases, using the information about types and concentrations of local structural units provided by previous NMR measurements to interpret the trends observed.

When cloud computing meets bioinformatics: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Shuigeng; Liao, Ruiqi; Guan, Jihong

2013-10-01

In the past decades, with the rapid development of high-throughput technologies, biology research has generated an unprecedented amount of data. In order to store and process such a great amount of data, cloud computing and MapReduce were applied to many fields of bioinformatics. In this paper, we first introduce the basic concepts of cloud computing and MapReduce, and their applications in bioinformatics. We then highlight some problems challenging the applications of cloud computing and MapReduce to bioinformatics. Finally, we give a brief guideline for using cloud computing in biology research.

Cloud and Grid: more connected than you might think?

CERN Multimedia

Stephanie McClellan

2013-01-01

You may perceive the grid and the cloud to be two separate technologies: the grid as physical hardware and the cloud as virtual hardware simulated by running software. So how are the grid and the cloud being integrated at CERN?   CERN Computer Centre. The LHC generates a large amount of data that needs to be stored, distributed and analysed. Grid technology is used for the mass physical data processing needed for the LHC supported by many data centres around the world as part of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid. Beyond the technology itself, the Grid represents a collaboration of all these centres working towards a common goal. Cloud technology uses virtualisation techniques, which allow one physical machine to represent many virtual machines. This technology is being used today to develop and deploy a range of IT services (such as Service Now, a cloud hosted service), allowing for a great deal of operational flexibility. Such services are available at CERN through Openstack. &...

Reducing Surface Clutter in Cloud Profiling Radar Data

Science.gov (United States)

Tanelli, Simone; Pak, Kyung; Durden, Stephen; Im, Eastwood

2008-01-01

An algorithm has been devised to reduce ground clutter in the data products of the CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), which is a nadir-looking radar instrument, in orbit around the Earth, that measures power backscattered by clouds as a function of distance from the instrument. Ground clutter contaminates the CPR data in the lowest 1 km of the atmospheric profile, heretofore making it impossible to use CPR data to satisfy the scientific interest in studying clouds and light rainfall at low altitude. The algorithm is based partly on the fact that the CloudSat orbit is such that the geodetic altitude of the CPR varies continuously over a range of approximately 25 km. As the geodetic altitude changes, the radar timing parameters are changed at intervals defined by flight software in order to keep the troposphere inside a data-collection time window. However, within each interval, the surface of the Earth continuously "scans through" (that is, it moves across) a few range bins of the data time window. For each radar profile, only few samples [one for every range-bin increment ((Delta)r = 240 m)] of the surface-clutter signature are available around the range bin in which the peak of surface return is observed, but samples in consecutive radar profiles are offset slightly (by amounts much less than (Delta)r) with respect to each other according to the relative change in geodetic altitude. As a consequence, in a case in which the surface area under examination is homogenous (e.g., an ocean surface), a sequence of consecutive radar profiles of the surface in that area contains samples of the surface response with range resolution (Delta)p much finer than the range-bin increment ((Delta)p 10 dB and a reduction of the contaminated altitude over ocean from about 1 km to about 0.5 km (over the ocean). The algorithm has been embedded in CloudSat L1B processing as of Release 04 (July 2007), and the estimated flat surface clutter is removed in L2B-GEOPROF product from the

THE CALIFORNIA MOLECULAR CLOUD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lada, Charles J.; Lombardi, Marco; Alves, Joao F.

2009-01-01

We present an analysis of wide-field infrared extinction maps of a region in Perseus just north of the Taurus-Auriga dark cloud complex. From this analysis we have identified a massive, nearby, but previously unrecognized, giant molecular cloud (GMC). Both a uniform foreground star density and measurements of the cloud's velocity field from CO observations indicate that this cloud is likely a coherent structure at a single distance. From comparison of foreground star counts with Galactic models, we derive a distance of 450 ± 23 pc to the cloud. At this distance the cloud extends over roughly 80 pc and has a mass of ∼ 10 5 M sun , rivaling the Orion (A) molecular cloud as the largest and most massive GMC in the solar neighborhood. Although surprisingly similar in mass and size to the more famous Orion molecular cloud (OMC) the newly recognized cloud displays significantly less star formation activity with more than an order of magnitude fewer young stellar objects than found in the OMC, suggesting that both the level of star formation and perhaps the star formation rate in this cloud are an order of magnitude or more lower than in the OMC. Analysis of extinction maps of both clouds shows that the new cloud contains only 10% the amount of high extinction (A K > 1.0 mag) material as is found in the OMC. This, in turn, suggests that the level of star formation activity and perhaps the star formation rate in these two clouds may be directly proportional to the total amount of high extinction material and presumably high density gas within them and that there might be a density threshold for star formation on the order of n(H 2 ) ∼ a few x 10 4 cm -3 .

Stratocumulus Cloud Top Radiative Cooling and Cloud Base Updraft Speeds

Science.gov (United States)

Kazil, J.; Feingold, G.; Balsells, J.; Klinger, C.

2017-12-01

Cloud top radiative cooling is a primary driver of turbulence in the stratocumulus-topped marine boundary. A functional relationship between cloud top cooling and cloud base updraft speeds may therefore exist. A correlation of cloud top radiative cooling and cloud base updraft speeds has been recently identified empirically, providing a basis for satellite retrieval of cloud base updraft speeds. Such retrievals may enable analysis of aerosol-cloud interactions using satellite observations: Updraft speeds at cloud base co-determine supersaturation and therefore the activation of cloud condensation nuclei, which in turn co-determine cloud properties and precipitation formation. We use large eddy simulation and an off-line radiative transfer model to explore the relationship between cloud-top radiative cooling and cloud base updraft speeds in a marine stratocumulus cloud over the course of the diurnal cycle. We find that during daytime, at low cloud water path (CWP correlated, in agreement with the reported empirical relationship. During the night, in the absence of short-wave heating, CWP builds up (CWP > 50 g m-2) and long-wave emissions from cloud top saturate, while cloud base heating increases. In combination, cloud top cooling and cloud base updrafts become weakly anti-correlated. A functional relationship between cloud top cooling and cloud base updraft speed can hence be expected for stratocumulus clouds with a sufficiently low CWP and sub-saturated long-wave emissions, in particular during daytime. At higher CWPs, in particular at night, the relationship breaks down due to saturation of long-wave emissions from cloud top.

Effects of sea surface temperature, cloud radiative and microphysical processes, and diurnal variations on rainfall in equilibrium cloud-resolving model simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Zhe; Li Xiao-Fan; Zhou Yu-Shu; Gao Shou-Ting

2012-01-01

The effects of sea surface temperature (SST), cloud radiative and microphysical processes, and diurnal variations on rainfall statistics are documented with grid data from the two-dimensional equilibrium cloud-resolving model simulations. For a rain rate of higher than 3 mm·h −1 , water vapor convergence prevails. The rainfall amount decreases with the decrease of SST from 29 °C to 27 °C, the inclusion of diurnal variation of SST, or the exclusion of microphysical effects of ice clouds and radiative effects of water clouds, which are primarily associated with the decreases in water vapor convergence. However, the amount of rainfall increases with the increase of SST from 29 °C to 31 °C, the exclusion of diurnal variation of solar zenith angle, and the exclusion of the radiative effects of ice clouds, which are primarily related to increases in water vapor convergence. For a rain rate of less than 3 mm·h −1 , water vapor divergence prevails. Unlike rainfall statistics for rain rates of higher than 3 mm·h −1 , the decrease of SST from 29 °C to 27 °C and the exclusion of radiative effects of water clouds in the presence of radiative effects of ice clouds increase the rainfall amount, which corresponds to the suppression in water vapor divergence. The exclusion of microphysical effects of ice clouds decreases the amount of rainfall, which corresponds to the enhancement in water vapor divergence. The amount of rainfall is less sensitive to the increase of SST from 29 °C to 31 °C and to the radiative effects of water clouds in the absence of the radiative effects of ice clouds. (electromagnetism, optics, acoustics, heat transfer, classical mechanics, and fluid dynamics)

Short-range correlations control the G/K and Poisson ratios of amorphous solids and metallic glasses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zaccone, Alessio; Terentjev, Eugene M. [Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE (United Kingdom)

2014-01-21

The bulk modulus of many amorphous materials, such as metallic glasses, behaves nearly in agreement with the assumption of affine deformation, namely that the atoms are displaced just by the amount prescribed by the applied strain. In contrast, the shear modulus behaves as for nonaffine deformations, with additional displacements due to the structural disorder which induce a marked material softening to shear. The consequence is an anomalously large ratio of the bulk modulus to the shear modulus for disordered materials characterized by dense atomic packing, but not for random networks with point atoms. We explain this phenomenon with a microscopic derivation of the elastic moduli of amorphous solids accounting for the interplay of nonaffinity and short-range particle correlations due to excluded volume. Short-range order is responsible for a reduction of the nonaffinity which is much stronger under compression, where the geometric coupling between nonaffinity and the deformation field is strong, whilst under shear this coupling is weak. Predictions of the Poisson ratio based on this model allow us to rationalize the trends as a function of coordination and atomic packing observed with many amorphous materials.

Cloud Motion in the GOCI COMS Ocean Colour Data

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Wayne D.; Franz, Bryan A.; Mannino, Antonio; Ahn, Jae-Hyun

2016-01-01

The Geostationary Ocean Colour Imager (GOCI) instrument, on Koreas Communications, Oceans, and Meteorological Satellite (COMS), can produce a spectral artefact arising from the motion of clouds the cloud is spatially shifted and the amount of shift varies by spectral band. The length of time it takes to acquire all eight GOCI bands for a given slot (portion of a scene) is sucient to require that cloud motion be taken into account to fully mask or correct the eects of clouds in all bands. Inter-band correlations can be used to measure the amount of cloud shift, which can then be used to adjust the cloud mask so that the union of all shifted masks can act as a mask for all bands. This approach reduces the amount of masking required versus a simple expansion of the mask in all directions away from clouds. Cloud motion can also aect regions with unidentied clouds thin or fractional clouds that evade the cloud identication process yielding degraded quality in retrieved ocean colour parameters. Areas with moving and unidentied clouds require more elaborate masking algo-rithms to remove these degraded retrievals. Correction for the eects of moving fractional clouds may also be possible. The cloud shift information can be used to determine cloud motion and thus wind at the cloud levels on sub-minute timescales. The benecial and negative eects of moving clouds should be con-sidered for any ocean colour instrument design and associated data processing plans.

Cloud ERP and Cloud Accounting Software in Romania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gianina MIHAI

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, Cloud Computing becomes a more and more fashionable concept in the IT environment. There is no unanimous opinion on the definition of this concept, as it covers several versions of the newly emerged stage in the IT. But in fact, Cloud Computing should not suggest anything else than simplicity. Thus, in short, simple terms, Cloud Computing can be defined as a solution to use external IT resources (servers, storage media, applications and services, via Internet. Cloud computing is nothing more than the promise of an easy accessible technology. If the promise will eventually turn into something certain yet remains to be seen. In our opinion it is too early to make an assertion. In this article, our purpose is to find out what is the Romanian offer of ERP and Accounting software applications in Cloud and / or as services in SaaS version. Thus, we conducted an extensive study whose results we’ll present in the following.

Cloud Processed CCN Suppress Stratus Cloud Drizzle

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, J. G.; Noble, S. R., Jr.

2017-12-01

Conversion of sulfur dioxide to sulfate within cloud droplets increases the sizes and decreases the critical supersaturation, Sc, of cloud residual particles that had nucleated the droplets. Since other particles remain at the same sizes and Sc a size and Sc gap is often observed. Hudson et al. (2015) showed higher cloud droplet concentrations (Nc) in stratus clouds associated with bimodal high-resolution CCN spectra from the DRI CCN spectrometer compared to clouds associated with unimodal CCN spectra (not cloud processed). Here we show that CCN spectral shape (bimodal or unimodal) affects all aspects of stratus cloud microphysics and drizzle. Panel A shows mean differential cloud droplet spectra that have been divided according to traditional slopes, k, of the 131 measured CCN spectra in the Marine Stratus/Stratocumulus Experiment (MASE) off the Central California coast. K is generally high within the supersaturation, S, range of stratus clouds (< 0.5%). Because cloud processing decreases Sc of some particles, it reduces k. Panel A shows higher concentrations of small cloud droplets apparently grown on lower k CCN than clouds grown on higher k CCN. At small droplet sizes the concentrations follow the k order of the legend, black, red, green, blue (lowest to highest k). Above 13 µm diameter the lines cross and the hierarchy reverses so that blue (highest k) has the highest concentrations followed by green, red and black (lowest k). This reversed hierarchy continues into the drizzle size range (panel B) where the most drizzle drops, Nd, are in clouds grown on the least cloud-processed CCN (blue), while clouds grown on the most processed CCN (black) have the lowest Nd. Suppression of stratus cloud drizzle by cloud processing is an additional 2nd indirect aerosol effect (IAE) that along with the enhancement of 1st IAE by higher Nc (panel A) are above and beyond original IAE. However, further similar analysis is needed in other cloud regimes to determine if MASE was

Cloud computing with e-science applications

CERN Document Server

Terzo, Olivier

2015-01-01

The amount of data in everyday life has been exploding. This data increase has been especially significant in scientific fields, where substantial amounts of data must be captured, communicated, aggregated, stored, and analyzed. Cloud Computing with e-Science Applications explains how cloud computing can improve data management in data-heavy fields such as bioinformatics, earth science, and computer science. The book begins with an overview of cloud models supplied by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and then:Discusses the challenges imposed by big data on scientific

Short versus long range interactions and the size of two-body weakly bound objects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lombard, R.J.; Volpe, C.

2003-01-01

Very weakly bound systems may manifest intriguing ''universal'' properties, independent of the specific interaction which keeps the system bound. An interesting example is given by relations between the size of the system and the separation energy, or scaling laws. So far, scaling laws have been investigated for short-range and long-range (repulsive) potentials. We report here on scaling laws for weakly bound two-body systems valid for a larger class of potentials, i.e. short-range potentials having a repulsive core and long-range attractive potentials. We emphasize analogies and differences between the short- and the long-range case. In particular, we show that the emergence of halos is a threshold phenomenon which can arise when the system is bound not only by short-range interactions but also by long-range ones, and this for any value of the orbital angular momentum l. These results enlarge the image of halo systems we are accustomed to. (orig.)

Recent results on short-range gravity experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hata, Maki; Akiyama, Takashi; Ikeda, Yuki; Kawamura, Hirokazu; Narita, Keigo; Ninomiya, Kazufumi; Ogawa, Naruya; Sato, Toshiaki; Seitaibashi, Etsuko; Sekiguchi, Yuta; Tsutsui, Ryosuke; Yazawa, Kazumasa; Murata, Jiro

2009-01-01

According to the ADD model, deviation from Newton's inverse square law is expected at below sub-millimeter scale. Present study is an experimental investigation of the Newton's gravitational law at a short range scale. We have developed an experimental setup using torsion balance bar, and succeeded to confirm the inverse square law at a centimeter scale. In addition, composition dependence of gravitational constant G is also tested at the centimeter scale, motivated to test the weak equivalence principle.

CMOS Receiver Front-ends for Gigabit Short-Range Optical Communications

CERN Document Server

Aznar, Francisco; Calvo Lopez, Belén

2013-01-01

This book describes optical receiver solutions integrated in standard CMOS technology, attaining high-speed short-range transmission within cost-effective constraints.  These techniques support short reach applications, such as local area networks, fiber-to-the-home and multimedia systems in cars and homes. The authors show how to implement the optical front-end in the same technology as the subsequent digital circuitry, leading to integration of the entire receiver system in the same chip.  The presentation focuses on CMOS receiver design targeting gigabit transmission along a low-cost, standardized plastic optical fiber up to 50m in length.  This book includes a detailed study of CMOS optical receiver design – from building blocks to the system level. Reviews optical communications, including long-haul transmission systems and emerging applications focused on short-range; Explains necessary fundamentals, such as characteristics of a data signal, system requirements affecting receiver design and key par...

Coherent Radiation of Electron Cloud

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heifets, S.

2004-01-01

The electron cloud in positron storage rings is pinched when a bunch passes by. For short bunches, the radiation due to acceleration of electrons of the cloud is coherent. Detection of such radiation can be used to measure the density of the cloud. The estimate of the power and the time structure of the radiated signal is given in this paper

Effective quantum theories with short- and long-range forces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koenig, Sebastian

2013-01-01

At low energies, nonrelativistic quantum systems are essentially governed by their wave functions at large distances. For this reason, it is possible to describe a wide range of phenomena with short- or even finite-range interactions. In this thesis, we discuss several topics in connection with such an effective description and consider, in particular, modifications introduced by the presence of additional long-range potentials. In the first part we derive general results for the mass (binding energy) shift of bound states with angular momentum L ≥ 1 in a periodic cubic box in two and three spatial dimensions. Our results have applications to lattice simulations of hadronic molecules, halo nuclei, and Feshbach molecules. The sign of the mass shift can be related to the symmetry properties of the state under consideration. We verify our analytical results with explicit numerical calculations. Moreover, we discuss the case of twisted boundary conditions that arise when one considers moving bound states in finite boxes. The corresponding finite-volume shifts in the binding energies play an important role in the study of composite-particle scattering on the lattice, where they give rise to topological correction factors. While the above results are derived under the assumption of a pure finite-range interaction - and are still true up to exponentially small correction in the short-range case - in the second part we consider primarily systems of charged particles, where the Coulomb force determines the long-range part of the potential. In quantum systems with short-range interactions, causality imposes nontrivial constraints on low-energy scattering parameters. We investigate these causality constraints for systems where a long-range Coulomb potential is present in addition to a short-range interaction. The main result is an upper bound for the Coulomb-modified effective range parameter. We discuss the implications of this bound to the effective feld theory (EFT) for

analysis of spatial-temporal variations and driving force of low cloud in northern China

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Xiaorui; Wang, Shuyu

2015-04-01

Cloud plays a crucial role in the climate system, and better understanding of its characteristics and formation mechanism are essential to study the climate system, improve the performance of climate models, and to provide scientific basis on conducting weather modification activities and better using water resources for the purpose of improving the local climate and ecological environment. During 1961 to 2005, decrease trend is detected for the total cloud amount over most parts of northern China, while increase trend is found for the low cloud amount with significant regionality. Both station and ISCCP D2 datasets present similar spatial distributions and interdecadal variation of high cloud. However two datasets show different characters for those of low cloud. Three typical sub-regions are chosen considering their underlying surface features and the temporal trend of low cloud amount, over which the interdecadal variations of low cloud amount in three regions are systematically investigated. The analyses show the strong regionality and seasonality in low cloud amount's temporal variations and trend, and quasi-biannual oscillations are observed in low cloud amount in three regions in the past 45 years. The relationships between 500 hPa circulation indexes and low cloud over the three regions are examined by means of singular value decomposition (SVD). The results show that the summer low cloud amount in Xinjiang is closely related with the Subtropical High, the Tibetan Plateau and Polar Vortex, and the autumn low cloud amount in North China is affected by the area of Subtropical High and intensity of Polar Vortex. For northeast China the controlling factor that affects the spring low cloud amount is the area of Polar Vortex in quadrant ⅳ（30°W-60°E）.

Short-range order in amorphous thin films of indium selenides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zakharov, V.P.; Poltavtsev, Yu.G.; Sheremet, G.P.

1982-01-01

A structure of the short-range order and a character of interatomic interactions in indium selenides Insub(1-x)Sesub(x) with 0.333 <= x <= 0.75, obtained in the form of amorphous films 0.05-0.80 μm thick are studied using electron diffraction method. It is found out that mostly tetrahedrical coordination of nearest neighbours in the vicinity of indium atoms is characteristic for studied amorphous films, and coordination of selenium atoms is different. Amorphous film with x=0.75 posesses a considereably microheterogeneous structure of the short-range order, which is characterized by the presence of microunclusions of amorphous selenium and atoms of indium, octohedrically coordinated by selenium atoms

Unidata Cyberinfrastructure in the Cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Ramamurthy, M. K.; Young, J. W.

2016-12-01

Data services, software, and user support are critical components of geosciences cyber-infrastructure to help researchers to advance science. With the maturity of and significant advances in cloud computing, it has recently emerged as an alternative new paradigm for developing and delivering a broad array of services over the Internet. Cloud computing is now mature enough in usability in many areas of science and education, bringing the benefits of virtualized and elastic remote services to infrastructure, software, computation, and data. Cloud environments reduce the amount of time and money spent to procure, install, and maintain new hardware and software, and reduce costs through resource pooling and shared infrastructure. Given the enormous potential of cloud-based services, Unidata has been moving to augment its software, services, data delivery mechanisms to align with the cloud-computing paradigm. To realize the above vision, Unidata has worked toward: * Providing access to many types of data from a cloud (e.g., via the THREDDS Data Server, RAMADDA and EDEX servers); * Deploying data-proximate tools to easily process, analyze, and visualize those data in a cloud environment cloud for consumption by any one, by any device, from anywhere, at any time; * Developing and providing a range of pre-configured and well-integrated tools and services that can be deployed by any university in their own private or public cloud settings. Specifically, Unidata has developed Docker for "containerized applications", making them easy to deploy. Docker helps to create "disposable" installs and eliminates many configuration challenges. Containerized applications include tools for data transport, access, analysis, and visualization: THREDDS Data Server, Integrated Data Viewer, GEMPAK, Local Data Manager, RAMADDA Data Server, and Python tools; * Leveraging Jupyter as a central platform and hub with its powerful set of interlinking tools to connect interactively data servers

Short-range wireless communication fundamentals of RF system design and application

CERN Document Server

Bensky, Alan

2004-01-01

The Complete "Tool Kit” for the Hottest Area in RF/Wireless Design!Short-range wireless-communications over distances of less than 100 meters-is the most rapidly growing segment of RF/wireless engineering. Alan Bensky is an internationally recognized expert in short-range wireless, and this new edition of his bestselling book is completely revised to cover the latest developments in this fast moving field.You'll find coverage of such cutting-edge topics as: architectural trends in RF/wireless integrated circuits compatibility and conflict issues between differen

Double scattering of light from Biophotonic Nanostructures with short-range order

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noh, Heeso; Liew, Seng Fatt; Saranathan, Vinodkumar; Prum, Richard O.; Mochrie, Simon G.J.; Dufresne, Eric R.; Cao, Hui (Yale)

2010-07-28

We investigate the physical mechanism for color production by isotropic nanostructures with short-range order in bird feather barbs. While the primary peak in optical scattering spectra results from constructive interference of singly-scattered light, many species exhibit secondary peaks with distinct characteristic. Our experimental and numerical studies show that these secondary peaks result from double scattering of light by the correlated structures. Without an analog in periodic or random structures, such a phenomenon is unique for short-range ordered structures, and has been widely used by nature for non-iridescent structural coloration.

Fluctuations in substitution type alloys and their analyses. Short-range order structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwasaki, Hiroshi; Ohshima, Ken-ichi

2010-01-01

This article is the fifth of the serial lecture, microstructures and fluctuations, in this magazine. The formula of X-ray diffuse scattering intensity was derived for binary alloys by introducing short-range order parameters. Diffuse scattering intensities for a single crystal Cu 3 Au were measured above critical temperature for ordering. The short-range parameters were obtained by a three-dimensional Fourier analysis. The long-range pair interaction between atoms was originated from the indirect screening interaction due to conduction electrons. A detailed study was made on short-range-order diffuse scattering from Cu 3 Au in the disordered state by electron diffraction. Fourfold splitting of the diffuse scattering was observed at 110 in the reciprocal lattice, and this result was attributed to the reflection of the form of the Fermi surface. The X-ray diffuse scattering intensity was measured at room temperature for disordered Cu-Pd alloys for the six composition of Pd. Twofold and fourfold splitting of diffuse scattering due to the short-range order (SRO) were observed at 100, 110 and equivalent positions respectively from alloys with more than 13.0at% Pd. The SRO parameters were determined from all the six alloys. For Cu-Pt alloys, the diffuse scattering originated from the correlation between Cu and Pt layers in direction was observed in addition to the one due to the reflection of the Fermi surface imaging. (author)

CLAAS: the CM SAF cloud property data set using SEVIRI

Science.gov (United States)

Stengel, M. S.; Kniffka, A. K.; Meirink, J. F. M.; Lockhoff, M. L.; Tan, J. T.; Hollmann, R. H.

2014-04-01

An 8-year record of satellite-based cloud properties named CLAAS (CLoud property dAtAset using SEVIRI) is presented, which was derived within the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring. The data set is based on SEVIRI measurements of the Meteosat Second Generation satellites, of which the visible and near-infrared channels were intercalibrated with MODIS. Applying two state-of-the-art retrieval schemes ensures high accuracy in cloud detection, cloud vertical placement and microphysical cloud properties. These properties were further processed to provide daily to monthly averaged quantities, mean diurnal cycles and monthly histograms. In particular, the per-month histogram information enhances the insight in spatio-temporal variability of clouds and their properties. Due to the underlying intercalibrated measurement record, the stability of the derived cloud properties is ensured, which is exemplarily demonstrated for three selected cloud variables for the entire SEVIRI disc and a European subregion. All data products and processing levels are introduced and validation results indicated. The sampling uncertainty of the averaged products in CLAAS is minimized due to the high temporal resolution of SEVIRI. This is emphasized by studying the impact of reduced temporal sampling rates taken at typical overpass times of polar-orbiting instruments. In particular, cloud optical thickness and cloud water path are very sensitive to the sampling rate, which in our study amounted to systematic deviations of over 10% if only sampled once a day. The CLAAS data set facilitates many cloud related applications at small spatial scales of a few kilometres and short temporal scales of a~few hours. Beyond this, the spatiotemporal characteristics of clouds on diurnal to seasonal, but also on multi-annual scales, can be studied.

Marine Cloud Brightening

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Latham, John; Bower, Keith; Choularton, Tom; Coe, H.; Connolly, P.; Cooper, Gary; Craft, Tim; Foster, Jack; Gadian, Alan; Galbraith, Lee; Iacovides, Hector; Johnston, David; Launder, Brian; Leslie, Brian; Meyer, John; Neukermans, Armand; Ormond, Bob; Parkes, Ben; Rasch, Philip J.; Rush, John; Salter, Stephen; Stevenson, Tom; Wang, Hailong; Wang, Qin; Wood, Robert

2012-09-07

The idea behind the marine cloud-brightening (MCB) geoengineering technique is that seeding marine stratocumulus clouds with copious quantities of roughly monodisperse sub-micrometre sea water particles might significantly enhance the cloud droplet number concentration, and thereby the cloud albedo and possibly longevity. This would produce a cooling, which general circulation model (GCM) computations suggest could - subject to satisfactory resolution of technical and scientific problems identified herein - have the capacity to balance global warming up to the carbon dioxide-doubling point. We describe herein an account of our recent research on a number of critical issues associated with MCB. This involves (i) GCM studies, which are our primary tools for evaluating globally the effectiveness of MCB, and assessing its climate impacts on rainfall amounts and distribution, and also polar sea-ice cover and thickness; (ii) high-resolution modelling of the effects of seeding on marine stratocumulus, which are required to understand the complex array of interacting processes involved in cloud brightening; (iii) microphysical modelling sensitivity studies, examining the influence of seeding amount, seedparticle salt-mass, air-mass characteristics, updraught speed and other parameters on cloud-albedo change; (iv) sea water spray-production techniques; (v) computational fluid dynamics studies of possible large-scale periodicities in Flettner rotors; and (vi) the planning of a three-stage limited-area field research experiment, with the primary objectives of technology testing and determining to what extent, if any, cloud albedo might be enhanced by seeding marine stratocumulus clouds on a spatial scale of around 100 km. We stress that there would be no justification for deployment of MCB unless it was clearly established that no significant adverse consequences would result. There would also need to be an international agreement firmly in favour of such action.

Marine cloud brightening.

Science.gov (United States)

Latham, John; Bower, Keith; Choularton, Tom; Coe, Hugh; Connolly, Paul; Cooper, Gary; Craft, Tim; Foster, Jack; Gadian, Alan; Galbraith, Lee; Iacovides, Hector; Johnston, David; Launder, Brian; Leslie, Brian; Meyer, John; Neukermans, Armand; Ormond, Bob; Parkes, Ben; Rasch, Phillip; Rush, John; Salter, Stephen; Stevenson, Tom; Wang, Hailong; Wang, Qin; Wood, Rob

2012-09-13

The idea behind the marine cloud-brightening (MCB) geoengineering technique is that seeding marine stratocumulus clouds with copious quantities of roughly monodisperse sub-micrometre sea water particles might significantly enhance the cloud droplet number concentration, and thereby the cloud albedo and possibly longevity. This would produce a cooling, which general circulation model (GCM) computations suggest could-subject to satisfactory resolution of technical and scientific problems identified herein-have the capacity to balance global warming up to the carbon dioxide-doubling point. We describe herein an account of our recent research on a number of critical issues associated with MCB. This involves (i) GCM studies, which are our primary tools for evaluating globally the effectiveness of MCB, and assessing its climate impacts on rainfall amounts and distribution, and also polar sea-ice cover and thickness; (ii) high-resolution modelling of the effects of seeding on marine stratocumulus, which are required to understand the complex array of interacting processes involved in cloud brightening; (iii) microphysical modelling sensitivity studies, examining the influence of seeding amount, seed-particle salt-mass, air-mass characteristics, updraught speed and other parameters on cloud-albedo change; (iv) sea water spray-production techniques; (v) computational fluid dynamics studies of possible large-scale periodicities in Flettner rotors; and (vi) the planning of a three-stage limited-area field research experiment, with the primary objectives of technology testing and determining to what extent, if any, cloud albedo might be enhanced by seeding marine stratocumulus clouds on a spatial scale of around 100×100 km. We stress that there would be no justification for deployment of MCB unless it was clearly established that no significant adverse consequences would result. There would also need to be an international agreement firmly in favour of such action.

Particle simulation algorithms with short-range forces in MHD and fluid flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cable, S.; Tajima, T.; Umegaki, K.

1992-07-01

Attempts are made to develop numerical algorithms for handling fluid flows involving liquids and liquid-gas mixtures. In these types of systems, the short-range intermolecular interactions are important enough to significantly alter behavior predicted on the basis of standard fluid mechanics and magnetohydrodynamics alone. We have constructed a particle-in-cell (PIC) code for the purpose of studying the effects of these interactions. Of the algorithms considered, the one which has been successfully implemented is based on a MHD particle code developed by Brunel et al. In the version presented here, short range forces are included in particle motion by, first, calculating the forces between individual particles and then, to prevent aliasing, interpolating these forces to the computational grid points, then interpolating the forces back to the particles. The code has been used to model a simple two-fluid Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Limitations to the accuracy of the code exist at short wavelengths, where the effects of the short-range forces would be expected to be most pronounced

Verifying Air Force Weather Passive Satellite Derived Cloud Analysis Products

Science.gov (United States)

Nobis, T. E.

2017-12-01

Air Force Weather (AFW) has developed an hourly World-Wide Merged Cloud Analysis (WWMCA) using imager data from 16 geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites. The analysis product contains information on cloud fraction, height, type and various optical properties including optical depth and integrated water path. All of these products are derived using a suite of algorithms which rely exclusively on passively sensed data from short, mid and long wave imager data. The system integrates satellites with a wide-range of capabilities, from the relatively simple two-channel OLS imager to the 16 channel ABI/AHI to create a seamless global analysis in real time. Over the last couple of years, AFW has started utilizing independent verification data from active sensed cloud measurements to better understand the performance limitations of the WWMCA. Sources utilized include space based lidars (CALIPSO, CATS) and radar (CloudSat) as well as ground based lidars from the Department of Energy ARM sites and several European cloud radars. This work will present findings from our efforts to compare active and passive sensed cloud information including comparison techniques/limitations as well as performance of the passive derived cloud information against the active.

Observational evidence for the aerosol impact on ice cloud properties regulated by cloud/aerosol types

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, B.; Gu, Y.; Liou, K. N.; Jiang, J. H.; Li, Q.; Liu, X.; Huang, L.; Wang, Y.; Su, H.

2017-12-01

The interactions between aerosols and ice clouds (consisting only of ice) represent one of the largest uncertainties in global radiative forcing from pre-industrial time to the present. The observational evidence for the aerosol impact on ice cloud properties has been quite limited and showed conflicting results, partly because previous observational studies did not consider the distinct features of different ice cloud and aerosol types. Using 9-year satellite observations, we find that, for ice clouds generated from deep convection, cloud thickness, cloud optical thickness (COT), and ice cloud fraction increase and decrease with small-to-moderate and high aerosol loadings, respectively. For in-situ formed ice clouds, however, the preceding cloud properties increase monotonically and more sharply with aerosol loadings. The case is more complicated for ice crystal effective radius (Rei). For both convection-generated and in-situ ice clouds, the responses of Rei to aerosol loadings are modulated by water vapor amount in conjunction with several other meteorological parameters, but the sensitivities of Rei to aerosols under the same water vapor amount differ remarkably between the two ice cloud types. As a result, overall Rei slightly increases with aerosol loading for convection-generated ice clouds, but decreases for in-situ ice clouds. When aerosols are decomposed into different types, an increase in the loading of smoke aerosols generally leads to a decrease in COT of convection-generated ice clouds, while the reverse is true for dust and anthropogenic pollution. In contrast, an increase in the loading of any aerosol type can significantly enhance COT of in-situ ice clouds. The modulation of the aerosol impacts by cloud/aerosol types is demonstrated and reproduced by simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Adequate and accurate representations of the impact of different cloud/aerosol types in climate models are crucial for reducing the

Assessment of Global Cloud Datasets from Satellites: Project and Database Initiated by the GEWEX Radiation Panel

Science.gov (United States)

Stubenrauch, C. J.; Rossow, W. B.; Kinne, S.; Ackerman, S.; Cesana, G.; Chepfer, H.; Getzewich, B.; Di Girolamo, L.; Guignard, A.; Heidinger, A.;

In-medium short-range dynamics of nucleons: Recent theoretical and experimental advances

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Atti, Claudio Ciofi degli, E-mail: ciofi@pg.infn.it

2015-08-14

The investigation of in-medium short-range dynamics of nucleons, usually referred to as the study of short-range correlations (SRCs), is a key issue in nuclear and hadronic physics. As a matter of fact, even in the simplified assumption that the nucleus could be described as a system of protons and neutrons interacting via effective nucleon–nucleon (NN) interactions, several non trivial problems arise concerning the description of in-medium (NN short-range dynamics, namely: (i) the behavior of the NN interaction at short inter-nucleon distances in medium cannot be uniquely constrained by the experimental NN scattering phase shifts due to off-shell effects; (ii) by rigorous renormalization group (RG) techniques entire families of phase equivalent interactions differing in the short-range part can be derived; (iii) the in-medium NN interaction may be, in principle, different from the free one; (iv) when the short inter-nucleon separation is of the order of the nucleon size, the question arises of possible effects from quark and gluon degrees of freedom. For more than fifty years, experimental evidence of SRCs has been searched by means of various kinds of nuclear reactions, without however convincing results, mainly because the effects of SRCs arise from non observable quantities, like, e.g., the momentum distributions, and have been extracted from observable cross sections where short- and long-range effects, effects from nucleonic and non nucleonic degrees of freedom, and effects from final state interaction, could not be unambiguously separated out. Recent years, however, were witness of new progress in the field: from one side, theoretical and computational progress has allowed one to solve ab initio the many-nucleon non relativistic Schrödinger equation in terms of realistic NN interactions, obtaining realistic microscopic wave functions, unless the case of parametrized wave functions used frequently in the past, moreover the development of advanced

Nonlocality and short-range wetting phenomena.

Science.gov (United States)

Parry, A O; Romero-Enrique, J M; Lazarides, A

2004-08-20

We propose a nonlocal interfacial model for 3D short-range wetting at planar and nonplanar walls. The model is characterized by a binding-potential functional depending only on the bulk Ornstein-Zernike correlation function, which arises from different classes of tubelike fluctuations that connect the interface and the substrate. The theory provides a physical explanation for the origin of the effective position-dependent stiffness and binding potential in approximate local theories and also obeys the necessary classical wedge covariance relationship between wetting and wedge filling. Renormalization group and computer simulation studies reveal the strong nonperturbative influence of nonlocality at critical wetting, throwing light on long-standing theoretical problems regarding the order of the phase transition.

Nonlocality and Short-Range Wetting Phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Parry, A. O.; Romero-Enrique, J. M.; Lazarides, A.

2004-08-01

We propose a nonlocal interfacial model for 3D short-range wetting at planar and nonplanar walls. The model is characterized by a binding-potential functional depending only on the bulk Ornstein-Zernike correlation function, which arises from different classes of tubelike fluctuations that connect the interface and the substrate. The theory provides a physical explanation for the origin of the effective position-dependent stiffness and binding potential in approximate local theories and also obeys the necessary classical wedge covariance relationship between wetting and wedge filling. Renormalization group and computer simulation studies reveal the strong nonperturbative influence of nonlocality at critical wetting, throwing light on long-standing theoretical problems regarding the order of the phase transition.

Short-range clustering and decomposition in copper-nickel and copper-nickel-iron alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aalders, T.J.A.

1982-07-01

The thermodynamic equilibrium state of short-range clustering and the kinetics of short-range clustering and decomposition has been studied for a number of CuNi(Fe)-alloys by means of neutron scattering. The validity of the theories, which are usually applied to describe spinodal decomposition, nucleation and growth, coarsening etc., was investigated. It was shown that for the investigated substances the conventional theory of spinodal decomposition is valid for the relaxation of short-range clustering only for the case that the initial and final states do not differ too much. The dynamical scaling procedure described by Lebowitz et al. did not lead to a time-independent scaled function F(x) for the relaxation of short-range clustering, for the early stages of decomposition and for the case that an alloy, which was already decomposed at the quench temperature T 1 , was annealed at a temperature T 2 (T 1 ). For the later stages of decomposition, however, the scaling procedure was indeed successful. The coarsening of the alloys could, except for the later stages, be described by the Lifshitz-Slyozov theory. (Auth.)

Cloud4Psi: cloud computing for 3D protein structure similarity searching.

Science.gov (United States)

Mrozek, Dariusz; Małysiak-Mrozek, Bożena; Kłapciński, Artur

2014-10-01

Popular methods for 3D protein structure similarity searching, especially those that generate high-quality alignments such as Combinatorial Extension (CE) and Flexible structure Alignment by Chaining Aligned fragment pairs allowing Twists (FATCAT) are still time consuming. As a consequence, performing similarity searching against large repositories of structural data requires increased computational resources that are not always available. Cloud computing provides huge amounts of computational power that can be provisioned on a pay-as-you-go basis. We have developed the cloud-based system that allows scaling of the similarity searching process vertically and horizontally. Cloud4Psi (Cloud for Protein Similarity) was tested in the Microsoft Azure cloud environment and provided good, almost linearly proportional acceleration when scaled out onto many computational units. Cloud4Psi is available as Software as a Service for testing purposes at: http://cloud4psi.cloudapp.net/. For source code and software availability, please visit the Cloud4Psi project home page at http://zti.polsl.pl/dmrozek/science/cloud4psi.htm. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

A cosmic ray-climate link and cloud observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dunne Eimear M.

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Despite over 35 years of constant satellite-based measurements of cloud, reliable evidence of a long-hypothesized link between changes in solar activity and Earth’s cloud cover remains elusive. This work examines evidence of a cosmic ray cloud link from a range of sources, including satellite-based cloud measurements and long-term ground-based climatological measurements. The satellite-based studies can be divided into two categories: (1 monthly to decadal timescale analysis and (2 daily timescale epoch-superpositional (composite analysis. The latter analyses frequently focus on sudden high-magnitude reductions in the cosmic ray flux known as Forbush decrease events. At present, two long-term independent global satellite cloud datasets are available (ISCCP and MODIS. Although the differences between them are considerable, neither shows evidence of a solar-cloud link at either long or short timescales. Furthermore, reports of observed correlations between solar activity and cloud over the 1983–1995 period are attributed to the chance agreement between solar changes and artificially induced cloud trends. It is possible that the satellite cloud datasets and analysis methods may simply be too insensitive to detect a small solar signal. Evidence from ground-based studies suggests that some weak but statistically significant cosmic ray-cloud relationships may exist at regional scales, involving mechanisms related to the global electric circuit. However, a poor understanding of these mechanisms and their effects on cloud makes the net impacts of such links uncertain. Regardless of this, it is clear that there is no robust evidence of a widespread link between the cosmic ray flux and clouds.

Analysis of long- and short-range contribution to adhesion work in cardiac fibroblasts: An atomic force microscopy study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sbaizero, O., E-mail: sbaizero@units.it [Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Trieste (Italy); University of Colorado Cardiovascular Institute, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora (United States); DelFavero, G. [Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Trieste (Italy); Martinelli, V. [International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Trieste (Italy); Long, C.S.; Mestroni, L. [University of Colorado Cardiovascular Institute, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora (United States)

2015-04-01

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) for single-cell force spectroscopy (SCFS) and Poisson statistic were used to analyze the detachment work recorded during the removal of gold-covered microspheres from cardiac fibroblasts. The effect of Cytochalasin D, a disruptor of the actin cytoskeleton, on cell adhesion was also tested. The adhesion work was assessed using a Poisson analysis also derived from single-cell force spectroscopy retracting curves. The use of Poisson analysis to get adhesion work from AFM curves is quite a novel method, and in this case, proved to be effective to study the short-range and long-range contributions to the adhesion work. This method avoids the difficult identification of minor peaks in the AFM retracting curves by creating what can be considered an average adhesion work. Even though the effect of actin depolymerisation is well documented, its use revealed that control cardiac fibroblasts (CT) exhibit a work of adhesion at least 5 times higher than that of the Cytochalasin treated cells. However, our results indicate that in both cells short-range and long-range contributions to the adhesion work are nearly equal and the same heterogeneity index describes both cells. Therefore, we infer that the different adhesion behaviors might be explained by the presence of fewer membrane adhesion molecules available at the AFM tip–cell interface under circumstances where the actin cytoskeleton has been disrupted. - Highlights: • AFM force–deformation curve was used to characterize the cardiac fibroblast adhesion behavior. • The amount and nature of adhesion were assessed using a Poisson analysis applied to the AFM curve. • The work of adhesion for control cells was about four times higher than that of the Cyt-D treated cells. • Short- and long-range contributions to adhesion are nearly equal for both control and treated cells.

Photogrammetric Analysis of Rotor Clouds Observed during T-REX

Science.gov (United States)

Romatschke, U.; Grubišić, V.

2017-12-01

Stereo photogrammetric analysis is a rarely utilized but highly valuable tool for studying smaller, highly ephemeral clouds. In this study, we make use of data that was collected during the Terrain-induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX), which took place in Owens Valley, eastern California, in the spring of 2006. The data set consists of matched digital stereo photographs obtained at high temporal (on the order of seconds) and spatial resolution (limited by the pixel size of the cameras). Using computer vision techniques we have been able to develop algorithms for camera calibration, automatic feature matching, and ultimately reconstruction of 3D cloud scenes. Applying these techniques to images from different T-REX IOPs we capture the motion of clouds in several distinct mountain wave scenarios ranging from short lived lee wave clouds on an otherwise clear sky day to rotor clouds formed in an extreme turbulence environment with strong winds and high cloud coverage. Tracking the clouds in 3D space and time allows us to quantify phenomena such as vertical and horizontal movement of clouds, turbulent motion at the upstream edge of rotor clouds, the structure of the lifting condensation level, extreme wind shear, and the life cycle of clouds in lee waves. When placed into context with the existing literature that originated from the T-REX field campaign, our results complement and expand our understanding of the complex dynamics observed in a variety of different lee wave settings.

Cyclotron Resonances in Electron Cloud Dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Celata, C.M.; Furman, M.A.; Vay, J.L.; Grote, D.P.; Ng, J.T.; Pivi, M.F.; Wang, L.F.

2009-01-01

A new set of resonances for electron cloud dynamics in the presence of a magnetic field has been found. For short beam bunch lengths and low magnetic fields where l b c , (l b = bunch duration, ω c = non-relativistic cyclotron frequency) resonances between the bunch frequency and harmonics of the cyclotron frequency cause an increase in the electron cloud density in narrow ranges of magnetic field near the resonances. For ILC parameters the increase in the density is up to a factor ∼ 3, and the spatial distribution of the electrons is broader near resonances, lacking the well-defined density 'stripes' of multipactoring found for non-resonant cases. Simulations with the 2D computer code POSINST, as well as a single-particle tracking code, were used to elucidate the physics of the dynamics. The resonances are expected to affect the electron cloud dynamics in the fringe fields of conventional lattice magnets and in wigglers, where the magnetic fields are low. Results of the simulations, the reason for the bunch-length dependence, and details of the dynamics will be discussed

Small Device For Short-Range Antenna Measurements Using Optics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yanakiev, Boyan Radkov; Nielsen, Jesper Ødum; Christensen, Morten

2011-01-01

This paper gives a practical solution for implementing an antenna radiation pattern measurement device using optical fibers. It is suitable for anechoic chambers as well as short range channel sounding. The device is optimized for small size and provides a cheap and easy way to make optical antenna...

Statistical thermodynamics and the size distributions of tropical convective clouds.

Science.gov (United States)

Garrett, T. J.; Glenn, I. B.; Krueger, S. K.; Ferlay, N.

2017-12-01

Parameterizations for sub-grid cloud dynamics are commonly developed by using fine scale modeling or measurements to explicitly resolve the mechanistic details of clouds to the best extent possible, and then to formulating these behaviors cloud state for use within a coarser grid. A second is to invoke physical intuition and some very general theoretical principles from equilibrium statistical thermodynamics. This second approach is quite widely used elsewhere in the atmospheric sciences: for example to explain the heat capacity of air, blackbody radiation, or even the density profile or air in the atmosphere. Here we describe how entrainment and detrainment across cloud perimeters is limited by the amount of available air and the range of moist static energy in the atmosphere, and that constrains cloud perimeter distributions to a power law with a -1 exponent along isentropes and to a Boltzmann distribution across isentropes. Further, the total cloud perimeter density in a cloud field is directly tied to the buoyancy frequency of the column. These simple results are shown to be reproduced within a complex dynamic simulation of a tropical convective cloud field and in passive satellite observations of cloud 3D structures. The implication is that equilibrium tropical cloud structures can be inferred from the bulk thermodynamic structure of the atmosphere without having to analyze computationally expensive dynamic simulations.

Use of cloud computing in biomedicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Sobeslav, Vladimir; Maresova, Petra; Krejcar, Ondrej; Franca, Tanos C C; Kuca, Kamil

2016-12-01

Nowadays, biomedicine is characterised by a growing need for processing of large amounts of data in real time. This leads to new requirements for information and communication technologies (ICT). Cloud computing offers a solution to these requirements and provides many advantages, such as cost savings, elasticity and scalability of using ICT. The aim of this paper is to explore the concept of cloud computing and the related use of this concept in the area of biomedicine. Authors offer a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of the cloud computing approach in biomedical research, decomposed into infrastructure, platform and service layer, and a recommendation for processing large amounts of data in biomedicine. Firstly, the paper describes the appropriate forms and technological solutions of cloud computing. Secondly, the high-end computing paradigm of cloud computing aspects is analysed. Finally, the potential and current use of applications in scientific research of this technology in biomedicine is discussed.

Free cooling of hard-spheres with short and long range interactions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gonzalez Briones, Sebastián; Thornton, Anthony Richard; Luding, Stefan

2015-01-01

We study the stability, the clustering and the phase-diagram of free cooling granular gases. The systems consist of mono-disperse particles with additional non-contact (long-range) interactions, and are simulated here by the event-driven molecular dynamics algorithm with discrete (short-range

Comparison of Cloud Detection Using the CERES-MODIS Ed4 and LaRC AVHRR Cloud Masks and CALIPSO Vertical Feature Mask

Science.gov (United States)

Trepte, Q. Z.; Minnis, P.; Palikonda, R.; Bedka, K. M.; Sun-Mack, S.

2011-12-01

Accurate detection of cloud amount and distribution using satellite observations is crucial in determining cloud radiative forcing and earth energy budget. The CERES-MODIS (CM) Edition 4 cloud mask is a global cloud detection algorithm for application to Terra and Aqua MODIS data with the aid of other ancillary data sets. It is used operationally for the NASA's Cloud and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project. The LaRC AVHRR cloud mask, which uses only five spectral channels, is based on a subset of the CM cloud mask which employs twelve MODIS channels. The LaRC mask is applied to AVHRR data for the NOAA Climate Data Record Program. Comparisons among the CM Ed4, and LaRC AVHRR cloud masks and the CALIPSO Vertical Feature Mask (VFM) constitute a powerful means for validating and improving cloud detection globally. They also help us understand the strengths and limitations of the various cloud retrievals which use either active and passive satellite sensors. In this paper, individual comparisons will be presented for different types of clouds over various surfaces, including daytime and nighttime, and polar and non-polar regions. Additionally, the statistics of the global, regional, and zonal cloud occurrence and amount from the CERES Ed4, AVHRR cloud masks and CALIPSO VFM will be discussed.

Galaxy CloudMan: delivering cloud compute clusters.

Science.gov (United States)

Afgan, Enis; Baker, Dannon; Coraor, Nate; Chapman, Brad; Nekrutenko, Anton; Taylor, James

2010-12-21

Widespread adoption of high-throughput sequencing has greatly increased the scale and sophistication of computational infrastructure needed to perform genomic research. An alternative to building and maintaining local infrastructure is "cloud computing", which, in principle, offers on demand access to flexible computational infrastructure. However, cloud computing resources are not yet suitable for immediate "as is" use by experimental biologists. We present a cloud resource management system that makes it possible for individual researchers to compose and control an arbitrarily sized compute cluster on Amazon's EC2 cloud infrastructure without any informatics requirements. Within this system, an entire suite of biological tools packaged by the NERC Bio-Linux team (http://nebc.nerc.ac.uk/tools/bio-linux) is available for immediate consumption. The provided solution makes it possible, using only a web browser, to create a completely configured compute cluster ready to perform analysis in less than five minutes. Moreover, we provide an automated method for building custom deployments of cloud resources. This approach promotes reproducibility of results and, if desired, allows individuals and labs to add or customize an otherwise available cloud system to better meet their needs. The expected knowledge and associated effort with deploying a compute cluster in the Amazon EC2 cloud is not trivial. The solution presented in this paper eliminates these barriers, making it possible for researchers to deploy exactly the amount of computing power they need, combined with a wealth of existing analysis software, to handle the ongoing data deluge.

The Modification of Orographic Snow Growth Processes by Cloud Nucleating Aerosols

Science.gov (United States)

Cotton, W. R.; Saleeby, S.

2011-12-01

Cloud nucleating aerosols have been found to modify the amount and spatial distribution of snowfall in mountainous areas where riming growth of snow crystals is known to contribute substantially to the total snow water equivalent precipitation. In the Park Range of Colorado, a 2km deep supercooled liquid water orographic cloud frequently enshrouds the mountaintop during snowfall events. This leads to a seeder-feeder growth regime in which snow falls through the orographic cloud and collects cloud water prior to surface deposition. The addition of higher concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) modifies the cloud droplet spectrum toward smaller size droplets and suppresses riming growth. Without rime growth, the density of snow crystals remains low and horizontal trajectories carry them further downwind due to slower vertical fall speeds. This leads to a downwind shift in snowfall accumulation at high CCN concentrations. Cloud resolving model simulations were performed (at 600m horizontal grid spacing) for six snowfall events over the Park Range. The chosen events were well simulated and occurred during intensive observations periods as part of two winter field campaigns in 2007 and 2010 based at Storm Peak Laboratory in Steamboat Springs, CO. For each event, sensitivity simulations were run with various initial CCN concentration vertical profiles that represent clean to polluted aerosol environments. Microphysical budget analyses were performed for these simulations in order to determine the relative importance of the various cloud properties and growth processes that contribute to precipitation production. Observations and modeling results indicate that initial vapor depositional growth of snow tends to be maximized within about 1km of mountaintop above the windward slope while the majority of riming growth occurs within 500m of mountaintop. This suggests that precipitation production is predominantly driven by locally enhanced orography. The large scale

Unsupervised learning in neural networks with short range synapses

Science.gov (United States)

Brunnet, L. G.; Agnes, E. J.; Mizusaki, B. E. P.; Erichsen, R., Jr.

2013-01-01

Different areas of the brain are involved in specific aspects of the information being processed both in learning and in memory formation. For example, the hippocampus is important in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, while emotional memory seems to be dealt by the amygdala. On the microscopic scale the underlying structures in these areas differ in the kind of neurons involved, in their connectivity, or in their clustering degree but, at this level, learning and memory are attributed to neuronal synapses mediated by longterm potentiation and long-term depression. In this work we explore the properties of a short range synaptic connection network, a nearest neighbor lattice composed mostly by excitatory neurons and a fraction of inhibitory ones. The mechanism of synaptic modification responsible for the emergence of memory is Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity (STDP), a Hebbian-like rule, where potentiation/depression is acquired when causal/non-causal spikes happen in a synapse involving two neurons. The system is intended to store and recognize memories associated to spatial external inputs presented as simple geometrical forms. The synaptic modifications are continuously applied to excitatory connections, including a homeostasis rule and STDP. In this work we explore the different scenarios under which a network with short range connections can accomplish the task of storing and recognizing simple connected patterns.

A review of our understanding of the aerosol-cloud interaction from the perspective of a bin resolved cloud scale modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Flossmann, Andrea I.; Wobrock, Wolfram

2010-09-01

cloud drops which is reduced in number and almost devoid of large particles. Consequently, impaction scavenging can probably be neglected inside clouds. Below clouds, impaction scavenging contributes around 30% to the particle mass reaching the ground by a rainfall event. The exact amount depends on the precise case studied. Nucleation and impaction scavenging directly by the ice phase in mixed phase clouds seems to play a minor role with respect to the particle mass that enters the ice particles via freezing of the liquid phase.The aerosol scavenging efficiency generally follows rather closely the precipitation scavenging value. The nucleation scavenging efficiency is around 90% for the liquid phase clouds and impaction scavenging generally contributed to about 30% of the particle mass in the rain. Clouds are very efficient in pumping up the boundary layer aerosol which essentially determines the cloud properties. For a marine case studied the net pumping depleted about 70% of the aerosol from the section of the boundary layer considered. The larger particles (and thus 70% of the mass vented up) got activated inside the cloud. A weak net import through cloud top and the upwind side was found, as well as a larger net export at the downwind side. The outside cloud subsidence can add to the replenishment of the boundary layer and eventually cause a recycling of the particles into the cloud. The results of the parcel model studies seem to indicate that increasing particulate pollution and decreasing solubility suppresses rain formation. In individual and short time cloud simulations this behaviour was even confirmed in our 3D model studies. However, taking into account entire cloud fields over longer periods of time yields the strong spatial and temporal variability of the results with isolated regions of inverse correlation of the effects. Even though in general initially the expected behaviour was found, after several hours of simulation, the overall precipitation

Inferred effects of cloud deposition on forest floor nutrient cycling and microbial properties along a short elevation gradient

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lavoie, M.; Bradley, R.L.

2003-01-01

Higher cloud cover significantly decreases forest floor pH, decrease exchangeable cations, modifies mineral-N speciation and increases physiological stress within microbial communities. - Cloud water deposition often increases with elevation, and it is widely accepted that this cloud water increases acid loading to upland forest ecosystems. A study was undertaken in south-eastern Quebec to determine if a 250 m elevation gradient (i.e. 420-665 m), along a uniform sugar-maple stand on the slope of Mount Orford, corresponded to a pH gradient in the forest floor and to predictable changes in soil nutrient availability and microbial properties. Precipitation data from a nearby study, and a photographic survey, provided presumptive evidence that this elevation gradient corresponded to a strong gradient in cloud water deposition. Forest floor temperature did not differ significantly across elevations. Forest floor moisture content was significantly higher, whereas pH and exchangeable Ca and Mg were significantly lower, at the higher elevations. Average seasonal net nitrification rates, determined by long-term laboratory incubations, did not differ significantly across elevations, whereas average seasonal net ammonification rates were significantly higher at higher elevations. Basal respiration rates and microbial biomass did not differ significantly across elevations, but metabolic quotient was significantly higher at higher elevations indicating possible environmental stress on forest floor microbial communities due to cloud water deposition. Anaerobic N mineralisation rates were significantly higher at higher elevations suggesting that N-limited microbial communities frequently exposed to cloud cover can be important short-term sinks for atmospheric N, thereby contributing to increase the active-N fraction of forest floors. We conclude that, where no significant changes in vegetation or temperature occur, elevation gradients can still be used to understand the spatial

Marine cloud brightening

Science.gov (United States)

Latham, John; Bower, Keith; Choularton, Tom; Coe, Hugh; Connolly, Paul; Cooper, Gary; Craft, Tim; Foster, Jack; Gadian, Alan; Galbraith, Lee; Iacovides, Hector; Johnston, David; Launder, Brian; Leslie, Brian; Meyer, John; Neukermans, Armand; Ormond, Bob; Parkes, Ben; Rasch, Phillip; Rush, John; Salter, Stephen; Stevenson, Tom; Wang, Hailong; Wang, Qin; Wood, Rob

2012-01-01

The idea behind the marine cloud-brightening (MCB) geoengineering technique is that seeding marine stratocumulus clouds with copious quantities of roughly monodisperse sub-micrometre sea water particles might significantly enhance the cloud droplet number concentration, and thereby the cloud albedo and possibly longevity. This would produce a cooling, which general circulation model (GCM) computations suggest could—subject to satisfactory resolution of technical and scientific problems identified herein—have the capacity to balance global warming up to the carbon dioxide-doubling point. We describe herein an account of our recent research on a number of critical issues associated with MCB. This involves (i) GCM studies, which are our primary tools for evaluating globally the effectiveness of MCB, and assessing its climate impacts on rainfall amounts and distribution, and also polar sea-ice cover and thickness; (ii) high-resolution modelling of the effects of seeding on marine stratocumulus, which are required to understand the complex array of interacting processes involved in cloud brightening; (iii) microphysical modelling sensitivity studies, examining the influence of seeding amount, seed-particle salt-mass, air-mass characteristics, updraught speed and other parameters on cloud–albedo change; (iv) sea water spray-production techniques; (v) computational fluid dynamics studies of possible large-scale periodicities in Flettner rotors; and (vi) the planning of a three-stage limited-area field research experiment, with the primary objectives of technology testing and determining to what extent, if any, cloud albedo might be enhanced by seeding marine stratocumulus clouds on a spatial scale of around 100×100 km. We stress that there would be no justification for deployment of MCB unless it was clearly established that no significant adverse consequences would result. There would also need to be an international agreement firmly in favour of such action

Short range order in liquid pnictides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mayo, M; Makov, G; Yahel, E; Greenberg, Y

2013-01-01

Liquid pnictides have anomalous physical properties and complex radial distribution functions. The quasi-crystalline model of liquid structure is applied to interpret the three-dimensional structure of liquid pnictides. It is shown that all the column V elements can be characterized by a short range order lattice symmetry similar to that of the underlying solid, the A7 structure, which originates from a Peierls distorted simple cubic lattice. The evolution of the liquid structure down the column as well as its temperature and pressure dependence is interpreted by means of the effect of thermodynamic parameters on the Peierls distortion. Surprisingly, it is found that the Peierls effect increases with temperature and the nearest neighbour distances exhibit negative thermal expansion. (paper)

Secure cloud computing

CERN Document Server

Jajodia, Sushil; Samarati, Pierangela; Singhal, Anoop; Swarup, Vipin; Wang, Cliff

2014-01-01

This book presents a range of cloud computing security challenges and promising solution paths. The first two chapters focus on practical considerations of cloud computing. In Chapter 1, Chandramouli, Iorga, and Chokani describe the evolution of cloud computing and the current state of practice, followed by the challenges of cryptographic key management in the cloud. In Chapter 2, Chen and Sion present a dollar cost model of cloud computing and explore the economic viability of cloud computing with and without security mechanisms involving cryptographic mechanisms. The next two chapters addres

Integrated cloud-aerosol-radiation product using CERES, MODIS, CALIPSO, and CloudSat data

Science.gov (United States)

Sun-Mack, Sunny; Minnis, Patrick; Chen, Yan; Gibson, Sharon; Yi, Yuhong; Trepte, Qing; Wielicki, Bruce; Kato, Seiji; Winker, Dave; Stephens, Graeme; Partain, Philip

2007-10-01

This paper documents the development of the first integrated data set of global vertical profiles of clouds, aerosols, and radiation using the combined NASA A-Train data from the Aqua Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), and CloudSat. As part of this effort, cloud data from the CALIPSO lidar and the CloudSat radar are merged with the integrated column cloud properties from the CERES-MODIS analyses. The active and passive datasets are compared to determine commonalities and differences in order to facilitate the development of a 3-dimensional cloud and aerosol dataset that will then be integrated into the CERES broadband radiance footprint. Preliminary results from the comparisons for April 2007 reveal that the CERES-MODIS global cloud amounts are, on average, 0.14 less and 0.15 greater than those from CALIPSO and CloudSat, respectively. These new data will provide unprecedented ability to test and improve global cloud and aerosol models, to investigate aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcing, and to validate the accuracy of global aerosol, cloud, and radiation data sets especially in polar regions and for multi-layered cloud conditions.

Short- and long-term variability of spectral solar UV irradiance at Thessaloniki, Greece: effects of changes in aerosols, total ozone and clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Fountoulakis

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this study, we discuss the short- and the long-term variability of spectral UV irradiance at Thessaloniki, Greece, using a long, quality-controlled data set from two Brewer spectrophotometers. Long-term changes in spectral UV irradiance at 307.5, 324 and 350 nm for the period 1994–2014 are presented for different solar zenith angles and discussed in association with changes in total ozone column (TOC, aerosol optical depth (AOD and cloudiness observed in the same period. Positive changes in annual mean anomalies of UV irradiance, ranging from 2 to 6 % per decade, have been detected both for clear- and all-sky conditions. The changes are generally greater for larger solar zenith angles and for shorter wavelengths. For clear-skies, these changes are, in most cases, statistically significant at the 95 % confidence limit. Decreases in the aerosol load and weakening of the attenuation by clouds lead to increases in UV irradiance in the summer, of 7–9 % per decade for 64° solar zenith angle. The increasing TOC in winter counteracts the effect of decreasing AOD for this particular season, leading to small, statistically insignificant, negative long-term changes in irradiance at 307.5 nm. Annual mean UV irradiance levels are increasing from 1994 to 2006 and remain relatively stable thereafter, possibly due to the combined changes in the amount and optical properties of aerosols. However, no statistically significant corresponding turning point has been detected in the long-term changes of AOD. The absence of signatures of changes in AOD in the short-term variability of irradiance in the UV-A may have been caused by changes in the single scattering albedo of aerosols, which may counteract the effects of changes in AOD on irradiance. The anti-correlation between the year-to-year variability of the irradiance at 307.5 nm and TOC is clear and becomes clearer as the AOD decreases.

Cloud CCN feedback

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hudson, J.G.

1992-01-01

Cloud microphysics affects cloud albedo precipitation efficiency and the extent of cloud feedback in response to global warming. Compared to other cloud parameters, microphysics is unique in its large range of variability and the fact that much of the variability is anthropogenic. Probably the most important determinant of cloud microphysics is the spectra of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) which display considerable variability and have a large anthropogenic component. When analyzed in combination three field observation projects display the interrelationship between CCN and cloud microphysics. CCN were measured with the Desert Research Institute (DRI) instantaneous CCN spectrometer. Cloud microphysical measurements were obtained with the National Center for Atmospheric Research Lockheed Electra. Since CCN and cloud microphysics each affect the other a positive feedback mechanism can result

DOCUMENTING A COMPLEX MODERN HERITAGE BUILDING USING MULTI IMAGE CLOSE RANGE PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND 3D LASER SCANNED POINT CLOUDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. L. Vianna Baptista

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Integrating different technologies and expertises help fill gaps when optimizing documentation of complex buildings. Described below is the process used in the first part of a restoration project, the architectural survey of Theatre Guaira Cultural Centre in Curitiba, Brazil. To diminish time on fieldwork, the two-person-field-survey team had to juggle, during three days, the continuous artistic activities and performers’ intense schedule. Both technologies (high definition laser scanning and close-range photogrammetry were used to record all details in the least amount of time without disturbing the artists' rehearsals and performances. Laser Scanning was ideal to record the monumental stage structure with all of its existing platforms, light fixtures, scenery walls and curtains. Although scanned with high-definition, parts of the exterior façades were also recorded using Close Range Photogrammetry. Tiny cracks on the marble plaques and mosaic tiles, not visible in the point clouds, were then able to be precisely documented in order to create the exterior façades textures and damages mapping drawings. The combination of technologies and the expertise of service providers, knowing how and what to document, and what to deliver to the client, enabled maximum benefits to the following restoration project.

Teaching cloud computing: a software engineering perspective

OpenAIRE

Sommerville, Ian

2012-01-01

This short papers discusses the issues of teaching cloud computing from a software engineering rather than a business perspective. It discusses what topics might be covered in a senior course on cloud software engineering.

On the universality of the long-/short-range separation in multiconfigurational density-functional theory

Science.gov (United States)

Fromager, Emmanuel; Toulouse, Julien; Jensen, Hans Jørgen Aa.

2007-02-01

In many cases, the dynamic correlation can be calculated quite accurately and at a fairly low computational cost in Kohn-Sham density-functional theory (KS-DFT), using current standard approximate functionals. However, in general, KS-DFT does not treat static correlation effects (near degeneracy) adequately which, on the other hand, can be described in wave-function theory (WFT), for example, with a multiconfigurational self-consistent field (MCSCF) model. It is therefore of high interest to develop a hybrid model which combines the best of both WFT and DFT approaches. The merge of WFT and DFT can be achieved by splitting the two-electron interaction into long-range and short-range parts. The long-range part is then treated by WFT and the short-range part by DFT. In this work the authors consider the so-called "erf" long-range interaction erf(μr12)/r12, which is based on the standard error function, and where μ is a free parameter which controls the range of the long-/short-range decomposition. In order to formulate a general method, they propose a recipe for the definition of an optimal μopt parameter, which is independent of the approximate short-range functional and the approximate wave function, and they discuss its universality. Calculations on a test set consisting of He, Be, Ne, Mg, H2, N2, and H2O yield μopt≈0.4a.u.. A similar analysis on other types of test systems such as actinide compounds is currently in progress. Using the value of 0.4a.u. for μ, encouraging results are obtained with the hybrid MCSCF-DFT method for the dissociation energies of H2, N2, and H2O, with both short-range local-density approximation and PBE-type functionals.

Simulation of short-term fluctuations in gamma exposure rate due to radioactive cloud released from nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichikawa, Yoichi; Shikata, Hiroshi; Ishida, Kenji; Ohba, Tachimori.

1981-01-01

The measured γ-exposure rate around nuclear power plants is due mainly to natural causes and radioactive clouds emitted from the plants. An exposure calculation method based on puff model has been already proposed to identify the plant contributions and to estimate values in response to short-term fluctuations of meteorological condition and the release rate. However, the calculation method by this model consumes a lot of computer time, since the calculation requires a three-dimensional integration of the distribution of the concentration from each puff. Hence, we propose a simplified method using approximate polynominal equations and interpolations. The computer time needed for the calculation with the simplified method is reduced to 1/30 of that required by the previous method. The calculation results by simplified method are compared with those by the previous method and with the measured exposure rate less natural background. The results of two different methods are in good agreement. The calculated exposure rate is within the range from half to twice as much as the measured exposure rate less background. (author)

Angular correlation between short-range. cap alpha. particles and. gamma. quanta

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kul' chitskii, L A; Latyshev, G D; Bulyginskii, D G

1949-01-01

Chang (Phys. Rev. 69, 60(1946); 70, 632(1946)) has found that the intensities of short-range ..cap alpha.. rays of Po and Ra are considerably higher than the values given by the Geiger-Nuttall law. This can be explained by assuming surface vibrations of ..cap alpha..-radioactive nuclei, which produce deformations and corresponding lowerings of the potential barrier in certain directions. In this case an angular correlation should exist between the short-range ..cap alpha.. ray and the accompanying ..gamma.. quantum. The authors checked this conclusion by applying the coincidence method to the ..cap alpha.. and ..gamma.. radiations of a mixture of RdTh (/sup 228/Th) and ThC (/sup 212/Bi). Maxima of coincidence numbers occur at angles 45 and 135 deg., with lesser maxima at 0 and 180 deg. Theoretical considerations show that in cases (like the one investigated) where the nuclear spin before and after the ..cap alpha.. and ..gamma.. emissions is zero, the angular correlations are uniquely determined whatever the deformation caused by the vibration; in other cases, the correlation depends on the kind of deformation. Therefore, it would be interesting to investigate the case of Pa, whose nuclear spin is not zero and the decay exhibits intensive groups of short-range ..cap alpha.. particles.

Genomics With Cloud Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sukhamrit Kaur

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Genomics is study of genome which provides large amount of data for which large storage and computation power is needed. These issues are solved by cloud computing that provides various cloud platforms for genomics. These platforms provides many services to user like easy access to data easy sharing and transfer providing storage in hundreds of terabytes more computational power. Some cloud platforms are Google genomics DNAnexus and Globus genomics. Various features of cloud computing to genomics are like easy access and sharing of data security of data less cost to pay for resources but still there are some demerits like large time needed to transfer data less network bandwidth.

Short-time dynamics of lysozyme solutions with competing short-range attraction and long-range repulsion: Experiment and theory

Science.gov (United States)

Riest, Jonas; Nägele, Gerhard; Liu, Yun; Wagner, Norman J.; Godfrin, P. Douglas

2018-02-01

Recently, atypical static features of microstructural ordering in low-salinity lysozyme protein solutions have been extensively explored experimentally and explained theoretically based on a short-range attractive plus long-range repulsive (SALR) interaction potential. However, the protein dynamics and the relationship to the atypical SALR structure remain to be demonstrated. Here, the applicability of semi-analytic theoretical methods predicting diffusion properties and viscosity in isotropic particle suspensions to low-salinity lysozyme protein solutions is tested. Using the interaction potential parameters previously obtained from static structure factor measurements, our results of Monte Carlo simulations representing seven experimental lysoyzme samples indicate that they exist either in dispersed fluid or random percolated states. The self-consistent Zerah-Hansen scheme is used to describe the static structure factor, S(q), which is the input to our calculation schemes for the short-time hydrodynamic function, H(q), and the zero-frequency viscosity η. The schemes account for hydrodynamic interactions included on an approximate level. Theoretical predictions for H(q) as a function of the wavenumber q quantitatively agree with experimental results at small protein concentrations obtained using neutron spin echo measurements. At higher concentrations, qualitative agreement is preserved although the calculated hydrodynamic functions are overestimated. We attribute the differences for higher concentrations and lower temperatures to translational-rotational diffusion coupling induced by the shape and interaction anisotropy of particles and clusters, patchiness of the lysozyme particle surfaces, and the intra-cluster dynamics, features not included in our simple globular particle model. The theoretical results for the solution viscosity, η, are in qualitative agreement with our experimental data even at higher concentrations. We demonstrate that semi

Saharan Dust Event Impacts on Cloud Formation and Radiation over Western Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Bangert, M.; Nenes, A.; Vogel, B.; Vogel, H.; Barahona, D.; Karydis, V. A.; Kumar, P.; Kottmeier, C.; Blahak, U.

2013-01-01

We investigated the impact of mineral dust particles on clouds, radiation and atmospheric state during a strong Saharan dust event over Europe in May 2008, applying a comprehensive online-coupled regional model framework that explicitly treats particle-microphysics and chemical composition. Sophisticated parameterizations for aerosol activation and ice nucleation, together with two-moment cloud microphysics are used to calculate the interaction of the different particles with clouds depending on their physical and chemical properties. The impact of dust on cloud droplet number concentration was found to be low, with just a slight increase in cloud droplet number concentration for both uncoated and coated dust. For temperatures lower than the level of homogeneous freezing, no significant impact of dust on the number and mass concentration of ice crystals was found, though the concentration of frozen dust particles reached up to 100 l-1 during the ice nucleation events. Mineral dust particles were found to have the largest impact on clouds in a temperature range between freezing level and the level of homogeneous freezing, where they determined the number concentration of ice crystals due to efficient heterogeneous freezing of the dust particles and modified the glaciation of mixed phase clouds. Our simulations show that during the dust events, ice crystals concentrations were increased twofold in this temperature range (compared to if dust interactions are neglected). This had a significant impact on the cloud optical properties, causing a reduction in the incoming short-wave radiation at the surface up to -75Wm-2. Including the direct interaction of dust with radiation caused an additional reduction in the incoming short-wave radiation by 40 to 80Wm-2, and the incoming long-wave radiation at the surface was increased significantly in the order of +10Wm-2. The strong radiative forcings associated with dust caused a reduction in surface temperature in the order of -0

Applicability of cloud point extraction for the separation trace amount of lead ion in environmental and biological samples prior to determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sayed Zia Mohammadi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available A sensitive cloud point extraction procedure(CPE for the preconcentration of trace lead prior to its determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS has been developed. The CPE method is based on the complex of Pb(II ion with 1-(2-pyridylazo-2-naphthol (PAN, and then entrapped in the non-ionic surfactant Triton X-114. The main factors affecting CPE efficiency, such as pH of sample solution, concentration of PAN and Triton X-114, equilibration temperature and time, were investigated in detail. A preconcentration factor of 30 was obtained for the preconcentration of Pb(II ion with 15.0 mL solution. Under the optimal conditions, the calibration curve was linear in the range of 7.5 ng mL−1–3.5 μg mL−1 of lead with R2 = 0.9998 (n = 10. Detection limit based on three times the standard deviation of the blank (3Sb was 5.27 ng mL−1. Eight replicate determinations of 1.0 μg mL−1 lead gave a mean absorbance of 0.275 with a relative standard deviation of 1.6%. The high efficiency of cloud point extraction to carry out the determination of analytes in complex matrices was demonstrated. The proposed method has been applied for determination of trace amounts of lead in biological and water samples with satisfactory results.

Cloud detection, classification and motion estimation using geostationary satellite imagery for cloud cover forecast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Escrig, H.; Batlles, F.J.; Alonso, J.; Baena, F.M.; Bosch, J.L.; Salbidegoitia, I.B.; Burgaleta, J.I.

2013-01-01

Considering that clouds are the greatest causes to solar radiation blocking, short term cloud forecasting can help power plant operation and therefore improve benefits. Cloud detection, classification and motion vector determination are key to forecasting sun obstruction by clouds. Geostationary satellites provide cloud information covering wide areas, allowing cloud forecast to be performed for several hours in advance. Herein, the methodology developed and tested in this study is based on multispectral tests and binary cross correlations followed by coherence and quality control tests over resulting motion vectors. Monthly synthetic surface albedo image and a method to reject erroneous correlation vectors were developed. Cloud classification in terms of opacity and height of cloud top is also performed. A whole-sky camera has been used for validation, showing over 85% of agreement between the camera and the satellite derived cloud cover, whereas error in motion vectors is below 15%. - Highlights: ► A methodology for detection, classification and movement of clouds is presented. ► METEOSAT satellite images are used to obtain a cloud mask. ► The prediction of cloudiness is estimated with 90% in overcast conditions. ► Results for partially covered sky conditions showed a 75% accuracy. ► Motion vectors are estimated from the clouds with a success probability of 86%

Short-range contacts govern the performance of industry-relevant battery cathodes

Science.gov (United States)

Morelly, Samantha L.; Alvarez, Nicolas J.; Tang, Maureen H.

2018-05-01

Fundamental understanding of how processing affects composite battery electrode structure and performance is still lacking, especially for industry-relevant electrodes with low fractions of inactive material. This work combines rheology, electronic conductivity measurements, and battery rate capability tests to prove that short-range electronic contacts are more important to cathode rate capability than either ion transport or long-range electronic conductivity. LiNi0.33Mn0.33Co0.33O2, carbon black, and polyvinylidene difluoride in 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone represent a typical commercial electrode with films. Improvements in battery rate capability at constant electrode porosity do not correlate to electronic conductivity, but rather show an optimum fraction of free carbon. Simple comparison of rate capability in electrodes with increased total carbon loading (3 wt%) shows improvement for all fractions of free carbon. These results clearly indicate that ion transport cannot be limiting and highlight the critical importance of short-range electronic contacts for controlling battery performance.

Airborne observations of cloud properties on HALO during NARVAL

Science.gov (United States)

Konow, Heike; Hansen, Akio; Ament, Felix

2016-04-01

The representation of cloud and precipitation processes is one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate and weather predictions. To validate model predictions of convective processes over the Atlantic ocean, usually satellite data are used. However, satellite products provide just a coarse view with poor temporal resolution of convective maritime clouds. Aircraft-based observations offer a more detailed insight due to lower altitude and high sampling rates. The research aircraft HALO (High Altitude Long Range Research Aircraft) is operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). With a ceiling of 15 km, and a range of 10,000 km and more than 10 hours it is able to reach remote regions and operate from higher altitudes than most other research aircraft. Thus, it provides the unique opportunity to exploit regions of the atmosphere that cannot be easily accessed otherwise. Measurements conducted on HALO provide more detailed insights than achievable from satellite data. Therefore, this measurement platform bridges the gap between previous airborne measurements and satellites. The payload used for this study consists of, amongst others, a suite of passive microwave radiometers, a cloud radar, and a water vapor DIAL. To investigate cloud and precipitation properties of convective maritime clouds, the NARVAL (Next-generation Aircraft Remote-Sensing for Validation Studies) campaign was conducted in winter 2013/2014 out of Barbados and Keflavik (Iceland). This campaign was one of the first that took place on the HALO aircraft. During the experiment's two parts 15 research flights were conducted (8 flights during NARVAL-South out of Barbados to investigate trade-wind cumuli and 7 flights out of Keflavik with focus on mid-latitude cyclonic systems). Flight durations were between five and nine hours, amounting to roughly 118 flight hours overall. 121 dropsondes were deployed. In fall 2016 two additional aircraft campaigns with the same payload will take place: The

On the regional climatic impact of contrails: microphysical and radiative properties of contrails and natural cirrus clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Strauss

Full Text Available The impact of contrail-induced cirrus clouds on regional climate is estimated for mean atmospheric conditions of southern Germany in the months of July and October. This is done by use of a regionalized one-dimensional radiative convective model (RCM. The influence of an increased ice cloud cover is studied by comparing RCM results representing climatological values with a modified case. In order to study the sensitivity of this effect on the radiative characteristics of the ice cloud, two types of additional ice clouds were modelled: cirrus and contrails, the latter cloud type containing a higher number of smaller and less of the larger cloud particles. Ice cloud parameters are calculated on the basis of a particle size distribution which covers the range from 2 to 2000 µm, taking into consideration recent measurements which show a remarkable amount of particles smaller than 20 µm. It turns out that a 10% increase in ice cloud cover leads to a surface temperature increase in the order of 1K, ranging from 1.1 to 1.2K in July and from 0.8 to 0.9K in October depending on the radiative characteristics of the air-traffic-induced ice clouds. Modelling the current contrail cloud cover which is near 0.5% over Europe yields a surface temperature increase in the order of 0.05K.

On the regional climatic impact of contrails: microphysical and radiative properties of contrails and natural cirrus clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Strauss

1997-11-01

Full Text Available The impact of contrail-induced cirrus clouds on regional climate is estimated for mean atmospheric conditions of southern Germany in the months of July and October. This is done by use of a regionalized one-dimensional radiative convective model (RCM. The influence of an increased ice cloud cover is studied by comparing RCM results representing climatological values with a modified case. In order to study the sensitivity of this effect on the radiative characteristics of the ice cloud, two types of additional ice clouds were modelled: cirrus and contrails, the latter cloud type containing a higher number of smaller and less of the larger cloud particles. Ice cloud parameters are calculated on the basis of a particle size distribution which covers the range from 2 to 2000 µm, taking into consideration recent measurements which show a remarkable amount of particles smaller than 20 µm. It turns out that a 10% increase in ice cloud cover leads to a surface temperature increase in the order of 1K, ranging from 1.1 to 1.2K in July and from 0.8 to 0.9K in October depending on the radiative characteristics of the air-traffic-induced ice clouds. Modelling the current contrail cloud cover which is near 0.5% over Europe yields a surface temperature increase in the order of 0.05K.

A cloud masking algorithm for EARLINET lidar systems

Science.gov (United States)

Binietoglou, Ioannis; Baars, Holger; D'Amico, Giuseppe; Nicolae, Doina

2015-04-01

Cloud masking is an important first step in any aerosol lidar processing chain as most data processing algorithms can only be applied on cloud free observations. Up to now, the selection of a cloud-free time interval for data processing is typically performed manually, and this is one of the outstanding problems for automatic processing of lidar data in networks such as EARLINET. In this contribution we present initial developments of a cloud masking algorithm that permits the selection of the appropriate time intervals for lidar data processing based on uncalibrated lidar signals. The algorithm is based on a signal normalization procedure using the range of observed values of lidar returns, designed to work with different lidar systems with minimal user input. This normalization procedure can be applied to measurement periods of only few hours, even if no suitable cloud-free interval exists, and thus can be used even when only a short period of lidar measurements is available. Clouds are detected based on a combination of criteria including the magnitude of the normalized lidar signal and time-space edge detection performed using the Sobel operator. In this way the algorithm avoids misclassification of strong aerosol layers as clouds. Cloud detection is performed using the highest available time and vertical resolution of the lidar signals, allowing the effective detection of low-level clouds (e.g. cumulus humilis). Special attention is given to suppress false cloud detection due to signal noise that can affect the algorithm's performance, especially during day-time. In this contribution we present the details of algorithm, the effect of lidar characteristics (space-time resolution, available wavelengths, signal-to-noise ratio) to detection performance, and highlight the current strengths and limitations of the algorithm using lidar scenes from different lidar systems in different locations across Europe.

An Economic Model for Self-tuned Cloud Caching

OpenAIRE

Dash, Debabrata; Kantere, Verena; Ailamaki, Anastasia

2009-01-01

Cloud computing, the new trend for service infrastructures requires user multi-tenancy as well as minimal capital expenditure. In a cloud that services large amounts of data that are massively collected and queried, such as scientific data, users typically pay for query services. The cloud supports caching of data in order to provide quality query services. User payments cover query execution costs and maintenance of cloud infrastructure, and incur cloud profit. The challenge resides in provi...

PMDP: A Framework for Preserving Multiparty Data Privacy in Cloud Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ji Li

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The amount of Internet data is significantly increasing due to the development of network technology, inducing the appearance of big data. Experiments have shown that deep mining and analysis on large datasets would introduce great benefits. Although cloud computing supports data analysis in an outsourced and cost-effective way, it brings serious privacy issues when sending the original data to cloud servers. Meanwhile, the returned analysis result suffers from malicious inference attacks and also discloses user privacy. In this paper, to conquer the above privacy issues, we propose a general framework for Preserving Multiparty Data Privacy (PMDP for short in cloud computing. The PMDP framework can protect numeric data computing and publishing with the assistance of untrusted cloud servers and achieve delegation of storage simultaneously. Our framework is built upon several cryptography primitives (e.g., secure multiparty computation and differential privacy mechanism, which guarantees its security against semihonest participants without collusion. We further instantiate PMDP with specific algorithms and demonstrate its security, efficiency, and advantages by presenting security analysis and performance discussion. Moreover, we propose a security enhanced framework sPMDP to resist malicious inside participants and outside adversaries. We illustrate that both PMDP and sPMDP are reliable and scale well and thus are desirable for practical applications.

CloudSat observations of cloud-type distribution over the Indian summer monsoon region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. V. Subrahmanyam

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The three-dimensional distribution of various cloud types over the Indian summer monsoon (ISM region using five years (2006–2010 of CloudSat observations during June-July-August-September months is discussed for the first time. As the radiative properties, latent heat released and microphysical properties of clouds differ largely depending on the cloud type, it becomes important to know what types of clouds occur over which region. In this regard, the present analysis establishes the three-dimensional distribution of frequency of occurrence of stratus (St, stratocumulus (Sc, nimbostratus (Ns, cumulus (Cu, altocumulus (Ac, altostratus (As, cirrus (Ci and deep convective (DC clouds over the ISM region. The results show that the various cloud types preferentially occur over some regions of the ISM, which are consistent during all the years of observations. It is found that the DC clouds frequently occur over northeast of Bay of Bengal (BoB, Ci clouds over a wide region of south BoB–Indian peninsula–equatorial Indian Ocean, and Sc clouds over the north Arabian Sea. Ac clouds preferentially occur over land, and a large amount of As clouds are found over BoB. The occurrence of both St and Ns clouds over the study region is much lower than all other cloud types.The interannual variability of all these clouds including their vertical distribution is discussed. It is envisaged that the present study opens up possibilities to quantify the feedback of individual cloud type in the maintenance of the ISM through radiative forcing and latent heat release.

UV Irradiance Enhancements by Scattering of Solar Radiation from Clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uwe Feister

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Scattering of solar radiation by clouds can reduce or enhance solar global irradiance compared to cloudless-sky irradiance at the Earth’s surface. Cloud effects to global irradiance can be described by Cloud Modification Factors (CMF. Depending on strength and duration, irradiance enhancements affect the energy balance of the surface and gain of solar power for electric energy generation. In the ultraviolet region, they increase the risk for damage to living organisms. Wavelength-dependent CMFs have been shown to reach 1.5 even in the UV-B region at low altitudes. Ground-based solar radiation measurements in the high Andes region at altitudes up to 5917 m a.s.l showed cloud-induced irradiance enhancements. While UV-A enhancements were explained by cloud scattering, both radiation scattering from clouds and Negative Ozone Anomalies (NOA have been discussed to have caused short-time enhancement of UV-B irradiance. Based on scenarios using published CMF and additional spectroradiometric measurements at a low-altitude site, the contribution of cloud scattering to the UV-B irradiance enhancement in the Andes region has been estimated. The range of UV index estimates converted from measured UV-B and UV-A irradiance and modeled cloudless-sky ratios UV-B/erythemal UV is compatible with an earlier estimate of an extreme UV index value of 43 derived for the high Andes.

Clouds, Aerosol, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer: An ARM Mobile Facility Deployment

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Robert; Wyant, Matthew; Bretherton, Christopher S.; Remillard, Jasmine; Kollias, Pavlos; Fletcher, Jennifer; Stemmler, Jayson; de Szoeke, Simone; Yuter, Sandra; Miller, Matthew;

Rain chemistry and cloud composition and microphysics in a Caribbean tropical montane cloud forest under the influence of African dust

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Delgado, Elvis; Valle-Diaz, Carlos J.; Baumgardner, Darrel; McDowell, William H.; González, Grizelle; Mayol-Bracero, Olga L.

2015-04-01

It is known that huge amounts of mineral dust travels thousands of kilometers from the Sahara and Sahel regions in Africa over the Atlantic Ocean reaching the Caribbean, northern South America and southern North America; however, not much is understood about how the aging process that takes place during transport changes dust properties, and how the presence of this dust affects cloud's composition and microphysics. This African dust reaches the Caribbean region mostly in the summer time. In order to improve our understanding of the role of long-range transported African dust (LRTAD) in cloud formation processes in a tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF) in the Caribbean region we had field campaigns measuring dust physical and chemical properties in summer 2013, as part of the Puerto Rico African Dust and Cloud Study (PRADACS), and in summer 2014, as a part of the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory (LCZO) and in collaboration with the Saharan Aerosol Long-Range Transport and Aerosol-Cloud-Interaction Experiment (SALTRACE). Measurements were performed at the TMCF of Pico del Este (PE, 1051 masl) and at the nature reserve of Cabezas de San Juan (CSJ, 60 masl). In both stations we monitored meteorological parameters (e.g., temperature, wind speed, wind direction). At CSJ, we measured light absorption and scattering at three wavelengths (467, 528 and 652 nm). At PE we collected cloud and rainwater and monitored cloud microphysical properties (e.g., liquid water content, droplet size distribution, droplet number concentration, effective diameter and median volume diameter). Data from aerosol models, satellites, and back-trajectories were used together with CSJ measurements to classify air masses and samples collected at PE in the presence or absence of dust. Soluble ions, insoluble trace metals, pH and conductivity were measured for cloud and rainwater. Preliminary results for summer 2013 showed that in the presence of LRTAD (1) the average conductivity of cloud water

Neural network cloud top pressure and height for MODIS

Science.gov (United States)

Håkansson, Nina; Adok, Claudia; Thoss, Anke; Scheirer, Ronald; Hörnquist, Sara

2018-06-01

Cloud top height retrieval from imager instruments is important for nowcasting and for satellite climate data records. A neural network approach for cloud top height retrieval from the imager instrument MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) is presented. The neural networks are trained using cloud top layer pressure data from the CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) dataset. Results are compared with two operational reference algorithms for cloud top height: the MODIS Collection 6 Level 2 height product and the cloud top temperature and height algorithm in the 2014 version of the NWC SAF (EUMETSAT (European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) Satellite Application Facility on Support to Nowcasting and Very Short Range Forecasting) PPS (Polar Platform System). All three techniques are evaluated using both CALIOP and CPR (Cloud Profiling Radar for CloudSat (CLOUD SATellite)) height. Instruments like AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) and VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) contain fewer channels useful for cloud top height retrievals than MODIS, therefore several different neural networks are investigated to test how infrared channel selection influences retrieval performance. Also a network with only channels available for the AVHRR1 instrument is trained and evaluated. To examine the contribution of different variables, networks with fewer variables are trained. It is shown that variables containing imager information for neighboring pixels are very important. The error distributions of the involved cloud top height algorithms are found to be non-Gaussian. Different descriptive statistic measures are presented and it is exemplified that bias and SD (standard deviation) can be misleading for non-Gaussian distributions. The median and mode are found to better describe the tendency of the error distributions and IQR (interquartile range) and MAE (mean absolute error) are found

Short-range disorder in pseudobinary ionic alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Cicco, Andrea; Principi, Emiliano; Filipponi, Adriano

2002-01-01

The short-range distribution functions of the RbBr 1-x I x solid and molten ionic alloys have been accurately measured using multiple-edge refinement of the K-edge extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectra (EXAFS). The local structure is characterized by two well-defined first-neighbor peaks associated with the Rb-I and Rb-Br distributions, both for solid and liquid alloys. The distribution of distances in solid alloys gives experimental evidence to available theoretical models. In the liquid, the two distance distributions are found to be practically independent of the concentration x. The effect of different effective charge screening of the ions is observed in the molten systems for limiting concentrations

A simulation study of electron-cloud instability and beam-induced multipacting in the LHC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zimmermann, F.

1997-02-01

In the LHC beam pipe, photoemission and secondary emission give rise to a quasi-stationary electron cloud, which is established after a few bunch passages. The response of this electron cloud to a transversely displaced bunch resembles a short-range wakefield and can cause a fast instability. In addition, beam-induced multipacting of the electrons may lead to an enhanced gas desorption and an associated pressure increase. In this paper the authors report preliminary simulation results of the electron-cloud build-up both in a dipole magnet and in a straight section of the LHC at top energy. The effective wakefield created by the electron cloud translates into an instability rise time of about 25 ms horizontally and 130 ms vertically. This rise time is not much larger than that of the resistive-wall instability at injection energy

Mesoscale to Synoptic Scale Cloud Variability

Science.gov (United States)

Rossow, William B.

1998-01-01

The atmospheric circulation and its interaction with the oceanic circulation involve non-linear and non-local exchanges of energy and water over a very large range of space and time scales. These exchanges are revealed, in part, by the related variations of clouds, which occur on a similar range of scales as the atmospheric motions that produce them. Collection of comprehensive measurements of the properties of the atmosphere, clouds and surface allows for diagnosis of some of these exchanges. The use of a multi-satellite-network approach by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) comes closest to providing complete coverage of the relevant range space and time scales over which the clouds, atmosphere and ocean vary. A nearly 15-yr dataset is now available that covers the range from 3 hr and 30 km to decade and planetary. This paper considers three topics: (1) cloud variations at the smallest scales and how they may influence radiation-cloud interactions, and (2) cloud variations at "moderate" scales and how they may cause natural climate variability, and (3) cloud variations at the largest scales and how they affect the climate. The emphasis in this discussion is on the more mature subject of cloud-radiation interactions. There is now a need to begin similar detailed diagnostic studies of water exchange processes.

Chemical and topological short-range order in metallic glasses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vincze, I.; Schaafsma, A.S.; Van der Woude, F.; Kemeny, T.; Lovas, A.

1980-10-01

Moessbauer spectroscopy is applied to the study of chemical short-range order in (Fe,Ni)B metallic glasses. It is found that the atomic arrangement in melt-quenched glasses closely resembles that of the crystalline counterparts (Fe 3 B is tetragonal, Ni 3 B is orthorombic). The distribution of transition metal atoms is not random at high Ni concentrations: Ni atoms prefer a neighbourhood with a higher boron coordination. (P.L.)

Clouds, Aerosols, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer: An Arm Mobile Facility Deployment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood, Robert; Wyant, Matthew; Bretherton, Christopher S.; Rémillard, Jasmine; Kollias, Pavlos; Fletcher, Jennifer; Stemmler, Jayson; de Szoeke, Simone; Yuter, Sandra; Miller, Matthew; Mechem, David; Tselioudis, George; Chiu, J. Christine; Mann, Julian A. L.; O’Connor, Ewan J.; Hogan, Robin J.; Dong, Xiquan; Miller, Mark; Ghate, Virendra; Jefferson, Anne; Min, Qilong; Minnis, Patrick; Palikonda, Rabindra; Albrecht, Bruce; Luke, Ed; Hannay, Cecile; Lin, Yanluan

2015-03-01

The Clouds, Aerosol, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer (CAP-MBL) 38 deployment at Graciosa Island in the Azores generated a 21 month (April 2009-December 2010) 39 comprehensive dataset documenting clouds, aerosols and precipitation using the Atmospheric 40 Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF). The scientific aim of the deployment is 41 to gain improved understanding of the interactions of clouds, aerosols and precipitation in the 42 marine boundary layer. 43 Graciosa Island straddles the boundary between the subtropics and midlatitudes in the 44 Northeast Atlantic Ocean, and consequently experiences a great diversity of meteorological and 45 cloudiness conditions. Low clouds are the dominant cloud type, with stratocumulus and cumulus 46 occurring regularly. Approximately half of all clouds contained precipitation detectable as radar 47 echoes below the cloud base. Radar and satellite observations show that clouds with tops from 1-48 11 km contribute more or less equally to surface-measured precipitation at Graciosa. A wide 49 range of aerosol conditions was sampled during the deployment consistent with the diversity of 50 sources as indicated by back trajectory analysis. Preliminary findings suggest important two-way 51 interactions between aerosols and clouds at Graciosa, with aerosols affecting light precipitation 52 and cloud radiative properties while being controlled in part by precipitation scavenging. 53 The data from at Graciosa are being compared with short-range forecasts made a variety 54 of models. A pilot analysis with two climate and two weather forecast models shows that they 55 reproduce the observed time-varying vertical structure of lower-tropospheric cloud fairly well, 56 but the cloud-nucleating aerosol concentrations less well. The Graciosa site has been chosen to 57 be a long-term ARM site that became operational in October 2013.

Cloud Impacts on Pavement Temperature in Energy Balance Models

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. L.

2013-12-01

Forecast systems provide decision support for end-users ranging from the solar energy industry to municipalities concerned with road safety. Pavement temperature is an important variable when considering vehicle response to various weather conditions. A complex, yet direct relationship exists between tire and pavement temperatures. Literature has shown that as tire temperature increases, friction decreases which affects vehicle performance. Many forecast systems suffer from inaccurate radiation forecasts resulting in part from the inability to model different types of clouds and their influence on radiation. This research focused on forecast improvement by determining how cloud type impacts the amount of shortwave radiation reaching the surface and subsequent pavement temperatures. The study region was the Great Plains where surface solar radiation data were obtained from the High Plains Regional Climate Center's Automated Weather Data Network stations. Road pavement temperature data were obtained from the Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System. Cloud properties and radiative transfer quantities were obtained from the Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System mission via Aqua and Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite products. An additional cloud data set was incorporated from the Naval Research Laboratory Cloud Classification algorithm. Statistical analyses using a modified nearest neighbor approach were first performed relating shortwave radiation variability with road pavement temperature fluctuations. Then statistical associations were determined between the shortwave radiation and cloud property data sets. Preliminary results suggest that substantial pavement forecasting improvement is possible with the inclusion of cloud-specific information. Future model sensitivity testing seeks to quantify the magnitude of forecast improvement.

Electronically driven short-range lattice instability: Cluster effects in superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szasz, A.

1991-01-01

In the first part of this series, short- and medium-range interactions in superconductors were investigated. In this paper a discussion is made on the cluster-mass dependence of the superconductive transition temperature and the relevant phenomenon of electron localization. A comparison with experiments is given; the predictions fit well to the observations

On the contribution of local feedback mechanisms to the range of climate sensitivity in two GCM ensembles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Webb, M.J.; Senior, C.A.; Sexton, D.M.H.; Ingram, W.J.; Williams, K.D.; Ringer, M.A. [Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, Met Office, Exeter (United Kingdom); McAvaney, B.J.; Colman, R. [Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (BMRC), Melbourne (Australia); Soden, B.J. [University of Miami, Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science, Miami, FL (United States); Gudgel, R.; Knutson, T. [Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Emori, S.; Ogura, T. [National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Tsukuba (Japan); Tsushima, Y. [Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Frontier Research Center for Global Change (FRCGC), Kanagawa (Japan); Andronova, N. [University of Michigan, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Li, B. [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Urbana, IL (United States); Musat, I.; Bony, S. [Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL), Paris (France); Taylor, K.E. [Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI), Livermore, CA (United States)

2006-07-15

Global and local feedback analysis techniques have been applied to two ensembles of mixed layer equilibrium CO{sub 2} doubling climate change experiments, from the CFMIP (Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project) and QUMP (Quantifying Uncertainty in Model Predictions) projects. Neither of these new ensembles shows evidence of a statistically significant change in the ensemble mean or variance in global mean climate sensitivity when compared with the results from the mixed layer models quoted in the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC. Global mean feedback analysis of these two ensembles confirms the large contribution made by inter-model differences in cloud feedbacks to those in climate sensitivity in earlier studies; net cloud feedbacks are responsible for 66% of the inter-model variance in the total feedback in the CFMIP ensemble and 85% in the QUMP ensemble. The ensemble mean global feedback components are all statistically indistinguishable between the two ensembles, except for the clear-sky shortwave feedback which is stronger in the CFMIP ensemble. While ensemble variances of the shortwave cloud feedback and both clear-sky feedback terms are larger in CFMIP, there is considerable overlap in the cloud feedback ranges; QUMP spans 80% or more of the CFMIP ranges in longwave and shortwave cloud feedback. We introduce a local cloud feedback classification system which distinguishes different types of cloud feedbacks on the basis of the relative strengths of their longwave and shortwave components, and interpret these in terms of responses of different cloud types diagnosed by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project simulator. In the CFMIP ensemble, areas where low-top cloud changes constitute the largest cloud response are responsible for 59% of the contribution from cloud feedback to the variance in the total feedback. A similar figure is found for the QUMP ensemble. Areas of positive low cloud feedback (associated with reductions in low level

Longwave scattering effects on fluxes in broken cloud fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takara, E.E.; Ellingson, R.G. [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)

1996-04-01

The optical properties of clouds in the radiative energy balance are important. Most works on the effects of scattering have been in the shortwave; but longwave effects can be significant. In this work, the fluxes above and below a single cloud layer are presented, along with the errors in assuming flat black plate clouds or black clouds. The predicted fluxes are the averaged results of analysis of several fields with the same cloud amount.

Direct-Bandgap InAs Quantum-Dots Have Long-Range Electron--Hole Exchange Whereas Indirect Gap Si Dots Have Short-Range Exchange

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Juo, J.W.; Franceschetti, A.; Zunger, A.

2009-01-01

Excitons in quantum dots manifest a lower-energy spin-forbidden 'dark' state below a spin-allowed 'bright' state; this splitting originates from electron-hole (e-h) exchange interactions, which are strongly enhanced by quantum confinement. The e-h exchange interaction may have both a short-range and a long-range component. Calculating numerically the e-h exchange energies from atomistic pseudopotential wave functions, we show here that in direct-gap quantum dots (such as InAs) the e-h exchange interaction is dominated by the long-range component, whereas in indirect-gap quantum dots (such as Si) only the short-range component survives. As a result, the exciton dark/bright splitting scales as 1/R 2 in InAs dots and 1/R 3 in Si dots, where R is the quantum-dot radius.

CIMS: A Context-Based Intelligent Multimedia System for Ubiquitous Cloud Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abhilash Sreeramaneni

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Mobile users spend a tremendous amount of time surfing multimedia contents over the Internet to pursue their interests. A resource-constrained smart device demands more intensive computing tasks and lessens the battery life. To address the resource limitations (i.e., memory, lower maintenance cost, easier access, computing tasks in mobile devices, mobile cloud computing is needed. Several approaches have been proposed to confront the challenges of mobile cloud computing, but difficulties still remain. However, in the coming years, context collecting, processing, and interchanging the results on a heavy network will cause vast computations and reduce the battery life in mobiles. In this paper, we propose a “context-based intelligent multimedia system” (CIMS for ubiquitous cloud computing. The main goal of this research is to lessen the computing percentage, storage complexities, and battery life for mobile users by using pervasive cloud computing. Moreover, to reduce the computing and storage concerns in mobiles, the cloud server collects several groups of user profiles with similarities by executing K-means clustering on users’ data (context and multimedia contents. The distribution process conveys real-time notifications to smartphone users, according to what is stated in his/her profile. We considered a mobile cloud offloading system, which decides the offloading actions to/from cloud servers. Context-aware decision-making (CAD customizes the mobile device performance with different specifications such as short response time and lesser energy consumption. The analysis says that our CIMS takes advantage of cost-effective features to produce high-quality information for mobile (or smart device users in real time. Moreover, our CIMS lessens the computation and storage complexities for mobile users, as well as cloud servers. Simulation analysis suggests that our approach is more efficient than existing domains.

Contrasting Cloud Composition Between Coupled and Decoupled Marine Boundary Layer Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

WANG, Z.; Mora, M.; Dadashazar, H.; MacDonald, A.; Crosbie, E.; Bates, K. H.; Coggon, M. M.; Craven, J. S.; Xian, P.; Campbell, J. R.; AzadiAghdam, M.; Woods, R. K.; Jonsson, H.; Flagan, R. C.; Seinfeld, J.; Sorooshian, A.

2016-12-01

Marine stratocumulus clouds often become decoupled from the vertical layer immediately above the ocean surface. This study contrasts cloud chemical composition between coupled and decoupled marine stratocumulus clouds. Cloud water and droplet residual particle composition were measured in clouds off the California coast during three airborne experiments in July-August of separate years (E-PEACE 2011, NiCE 2013, BOAS 2015). Decoupled clouds exhibited significantly lower overall mass concentrations in both cloud water and droplet residual particles, consistent with reduced cloud droplet number concentration and sub-cloud aerosol (Dp > 100 nm) number concentration, owing to detachment from surface sources. Non-refractory sub-micrometer aerosol measurements show that coupled clouds exhibit higher sulfate mass fractions in droplet residual particles, owing to more abundant precursor emissions from the ocean and ships. Consequently, decoupled clouds exhibited higher mass fractions of organics, nitrate, and ammonium in droplet residual particles, owing to effects of long-range transport from more distant sources. Total cloud water mass concentration in coupled clouds was dominated by sodium and chloride, and their mass fractions and concentrations exceeded those in decoupled clouds. Conversely, with the exception of sea salt constituents (e.g., Cl, Na, Mg, K), cloud water mass fractions of all species examined were higher in decoupled clouds relative to coupled clouds. These results suggest that an important variable is the extent to which clouds are coupled to the surface layer when interpreting microphysical data relevant to clouds and aerosol particles.

Detecting long-duration cloud contamination in hyper-temporal NDVI imagery

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ali, A.; de Bie, C.A.J.M.; Skidmore, A.K.

2013-01-01

Cloud contamination impacts on the quality of hyper-temporal NDVI imagery and its subsequent interpretation. Short-duration cloud impacts are easily removed by using quality flags and an upper envelope filter, but long-duration cloud contamination of NDVI imagery remains. In this paper, an approach

Mapping the Distribution of Cloud Forests Using MODIS Imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Douglas, M. W.; Mejia, J.; Murillo, J.; Orozco, R.

2007-05-01

Tropical cloud forests - those forests that are frequently immersed in clouds or otherwise very humid, are extremely difficult to map from the ground, and are not easily distinguished in satellite imagery from other forest types, but they have a very different flora and fauna than lowland rainforest. Cloud forests, although found in many parts of the tropics, have a very restricted vertical extent and thus are also restricted horizontally. As a result, they are subject to both human disturbance (coffee growing for example) and the effects of possible climate change. Motivated by a desire to seek meteorological explanations for the distribution of cloud forests, we have begun to map cloudiness using MODIS Terra and Aqua visible imagery. This imagery, at ~1030 LT and 1330 LT, is an approximation for mid-day cloudiness. In tropical regions the amount of mid-day cloudiness strongly controls the shortwave radiation and thus the potential for evaporation (and aridity). We have mapped cloudiness using a simple algorithm that distinguishes between the cloud-free background brightness and the generally more reflective clouds to separate clouds from the underlying background. A major advantage of MODIS imagery over many other sources of satellite imagery is its high spatial resolution (~250m). This, coupled with precisely navigated images, means that detailed maps of cloudiness can be produced. The cloudiness maps can then be related to the underlying topography to further refine the location of the cloud forests. An advantage of this technique is that we are mapping the potential cloud forest, based on cloudiness, rather than the actual cloud forest, which are commonly based on forest estimates from satellite and digital elevation data. We do not derive precipitation, only estimates of daytime cloudiness. Although only a few years of MODIS imagery has been used in our studies, we will show that this is sufficient to describe the climatology of cloudiness with acceptable

Saharan dust event impacts on cloud formation and radiation over Western Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Bangert

2012-05-01

Full Text Available We investigated the impact of mineral dust particles on clouds, radiation and atmospheric state during a strong Saharan dust event over Europe in May 2008, applying a comprehensive online-coupled regional model framework that explicitly treats particle microphysics and chemical composition. Sophisticated parameterizations for aerosol activation and ice nucleation, together with two-moment cloud microphysics are used to calculate the interaction of the different particles with clouds depending on their physical and chemical properties.

The impact of dust on cloud droplet number concentration was found to be low, with just a slight increase in cloud droplet number concentration for both uncoated and coated dust. For temperatures lower than the level of homogeneous freezing, no significant impact of dust on the number and mass concentration of ice crystals was found, though the concentration of frozen dust particles reached up to 100 l⁻¹ during the ice nucleation events. Mineral dust particles were found to have the largest impact on clouds in a temperature range between freezing level and the level of homogeneous freezing, where they determined the number concentration of ice crystals due to efficient heterogeneous freezing of the dust particles and modified the glaciation of mixed phase clouds.

Our simulations show that during the dust events, ice crystals concentrations were increased twofold in this temperature range (compared to if dust interactions are neglected. This had a significant impact on the cloud optical properties, causing a reduction in the incoming short-wave radiation at the surface up to −75 W m⁻². Including the direct interaction of dust with radiation caused an additional reduction in the incoming short-wave radiation by 40 to 80 W m⁻², and the incoming long-wave radiation at the surface was increased significantly in the order of +10 W m⁻².

The

Aerosol impacts on California winter clouds and precipitation during CalWater 2011: local pollution vs. long-range transported dust

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, J.; Leung, L. R.; DeMott, P. J.; Comstock, J. M.; Singh, B.; Rosenfeld, D.; Tomlinson, J. M.; White, A.; Prather, K. A.; Minnis, P.; Ayers, J. K.; Min, Q.

2013-07-01

Mineral dust aerosols often observed over California in winter/spring, associated with long-range transport from Asia and Sahara, have been linked to enhanced precipitation based on observations. Local anthropogenic pollution, on the other hand, was shown in previous observational and modeling studies to reduce precipitation. Here we incorporate recent developments in ice nucleation parameterizations to link aerosols with ice crystal formation in a spectral-bin cloud microphysical model coupled with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, to examine the relative and combined impacts of dust and local pollution particles on cloud properties and precipitation type and intensity. Simulations are carried out for two cloud cases with contrasting meteorology and cloud dynamics that occurred on 16 February (FEB16) and 2 March (MAR02) from the CalWater 2011 field campaign. In both cases, observations show the presence of dust or dust/biological particles in a relative pristine environment. The simulated cloud microphysical properties and precipitation show reasonable agreement with aircraft and surface measurements. Model sensitivity experiments indicate that in the pristine environment, the dust/biological aerosol layers increase the accumulated precipitation by 10-20% from the Central Valley to the Sierra Nevada Mountains for both FEB16 and MAR02 due to a 40% increase in snow formation, validating the observational hypothesis. Model results show that local pollution increases precipitation over the windward slope of the mountains by few percent due to increased snow formation when dust is present but reduces precipitation by 5-8% if dust is removed on FEB16. The effects of local pollution on cloud microphysics and precipitation strongly depend on meteorology including the strength of the Sierra Barrier Jet, and cloud dynamics. This study further underscores the importance of the interactions between local pollution, dust, and environmental conditions for

Aerosol impacts on California winter clouds and precipitation during CalWater 2011: local pollution versus long-range transported dust

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, J.; Leung, L. R.; DeMott, P. J.; Comstock, J. M.; Singh, B.; Rosenfeld, D.; Tomlinson, J. M.; White, A.; Prather, K. A.; Minnis, P.; Ayers, J. K.; Min, Q.

2014-01-01

Mineral dust aerosols often observed over California in winter and spring, associated with long-range transport from Asia and the Sahara, have been linked to enhanced precipitation based on observations. Local anthropogenic pollution, on the other hand, was shown in previous observational and modeling studies to reduce precipitation. Here we incorporate recent developments in ice nucleation parameterizations to link aerosols with ice crystal formation in a spectral-bin cloud microphysical model coupled with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model in order to examine the relative and combined impacts of dust and local pollution particles on cloud properties and precipitation type and intensity. Simulations are carried out for two cloud cases (from the CalWater 2011 field campaign) with contrasting meteorology and cloud dynamics that occurred on 16 February (FEB16) and 2 March (MAR02). In both cases, observations show the presence of dust and biological particles in a relative pristine environment. The simulated cloud microphysical properties and precipitation show reasonable agreement with aircraft and surface measurements. Model sensitivity experiments indicate that in the pristine environment, the dust and biological aerosol layers increase the accumulated precipitation by 10-20% from the Central Valley to the Sierra Nevada for both FEB16 and MAR02 due to a ~40% increase in snow formation, validating the observational hypothesis. Model results show that local pollution increases precipitation over the windward slope of the mountains by a few percent due to increased snow formation when dust is present, but reduces precipitation by 5-8% if dust is removed on FEB16. The effects of local pollution on cloud microphysics and precipitation strongly depend on meteorology, including cloud dynamics and the strength of the Sierra Barrier Jet. This study further underscores the importance of the interactions between local pollution, dust, and environmental

Dynamical arrest in dense short-ranged attractive colloids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foffi, G; Sciortino, F; Zaccarelli, E; Tartaglia, P

2004-01-01

We study thermodynamic and dynamic properties of model colloidal systems interacting with a hard core repulsion and a short-range attraction, and provide an overall picture of their phase diagrams which shows a very rich phenomenology. We focus on the slow dynamic properties of this model, investigating in detail the glass transition lines (both repulsive and attractive), the glass-glass transitions and the location of the higher order singularities. We discuss the relative location of the glass lines and of the metastable liquid-gas binodal, an issue relevant for the understanding of low density arrested states of matter

FINDING CUBOID-BASED BUILDING MODELS IN POINT CLOUDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Nguatem

2012-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present an automatic approach for the derivation of 3D building models of level-of-detail 1 (LOD 1 from point clouds obtained from (dense image matching or, for comparison only, from LIDAR. Our approach makes use of the predominance of vertical structures and orthogonal intersections in architectural scenes. After robustly determining the scene's vertical direction based on the 3D points we use it as constraint for a RANSAC-based search for vertical planes in the point cloud. The planes are further analyzed to segment reliable outlines for rectangular surface within these planes, which are connected to construct cuboid-based building models. We demonstrate that our approach is robust and effective over a range of real-world input data sets with varying point density, amount of noise, and outliers.

Electronically driven short-range lattice instability: Possible role in superconductive pairing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szasz, A.

1991-01-01

A superconducting pairing mechanism is suggested, mediating by collective and coherent cluster fluctuations in the materials. The model, based on a geometrical frustration, proposes a dynamic effect driven by a special short-range electronic instability. Experimental support for this model is discussed

Star formation induced by cloud-cloud collisions and galactic giant molecular cloud evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Masato I. N.; Kobayashi, Hiroshi; Inutsuka, Shu-ichiro; Fukui, Yasuo

2018-05-01

Recent millimeter/submillimeter observations towards nearby galaxies have started to map the whole disk and to identify giant molecular clouds (GMCs) even in the regions between galactic spiral structures. Observed variations of GMC mass functions in different galactic environments indicates that massive GMCs preferentially reside along galactic spiral structures whereas inter-arm regions have many small GMCs. Based on the phase transition dynamics from magnetized warm neutral medium to molecular clouds, Kobayashi et al. (2017, ApJ, 836, 175) proposes a semi-analytical evolutionary description for GMC mass functions including a cloud-cloud collision (CCC) process. Their results show that CCC is less dominant in shaping the mass function of GMCs than the accretion of dense H I gas driven by the propagation of supersonic shock waves. However, their formulation does not take into account the possible enhancement of star formation by CCC. Millimeter/submillimeter observations within the Milky Way indicate the importance of CCC in the formation of star clusters and massive stars. In this article, we reformulate the time-evolution equation largely modified from Kobayashi et al. (2017, ApJ, 836, 175) so that we additionally compute star formation subsequently taking place in CCC clouds. Our results suggest that, although CCC events between smaller clouds are more frequent than the ones between massive GMCs, CCC-driven star formation is mostly driven by massive GMCs ≳ 10^{5.5} M_{⊙} (where M⊙ is the solar mass). The resultant cumulative CCC-driven star formation may amount to a few 10 percent of the total star formation in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies.

Quantitative Measures of Immersion in Cloud and the Biogeography of Cloud Forests

Science.gov (United States)

Lawton, R. O.; Nair, U. S.; Ray, D.; Regmi, A.; Pounds, J. A.; Welch, R. M.

2010-01-01

Sites described as tropical montane cloud forests differ greatly, in part because observers tend to differ in their opinion as to what constitutes frequent and prolonged immersion in cloud. This definitional difficulty interferes with hydrologic analyses, assessments of environmental impacts on ecosystems, and biogeographical analyses of cloud forest communities and species. Quantitative measurements of cloud immersion can be obtained on site, but the observations are necessarily spatially limited, although well-placed observers can examine 10 50 km of a mountain range under rainless conditions. Regional analyses, however, require observations at a broader scale. This chapter discusses remote sensing and modeling approaches that can provide quantitative measures of the spatiotemporal patterns of cloud cover and cloud immersion in tropical mountain ranges. These approaches integrate remote sensing tools of various spatial resolutions and frequencies of observation, digital elevation models, regional atmospheric models, and ground-based observations to provide measures of cloud cover, cloud base height, and the intersection of cloud and terrain. This combined approach was applied to the Monteverde region of northern Costa Rica to illustrate how the proportion of time the forest is immersed in cloud may vary spatially and temporally. The observed spatial variation was largely due to patterns of airflow over the mountains. The temporal variation reflected the diurnal rise and fall of the orographic cloud base, which was influenced in turn by synoptic weather conditions, the seasonal movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and the north-easterly trade winds. Knowledge of the proportion of the time that sites are immersed in clouds should facilitate ecological comparisons and biogeographical analyses, as well as land use planning and hydrologic assessments in areas where intensive on-site work is not feasible.

CHPS IN CLOUD COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT

OpenAIRE

K.L.Giridas; A.Shajin Nargunam

2012-01-01

Workflow have been utilized to characterize a various form of applications concerning high processing and storage space demands. So, to make the cloud computing environment more eco-friendly,our research project was aiming in reducing E-waste accumulated by computers. In a hybrid cloud, the user has flexibility offered by public cloud resources that can be combined to the private resources pool as required. Our previous work described the process of combining the low range and mid range proce...

Short, intermediate and long range order in amorphous ices

Science.gov (United States)

Martelli, Fausto; Torquato, Salvatore; Giovanbattista, Nicolas; Car, Roberto

Water exhibits polyamorphism, i.e., it exists in more than one amorphous state. The most common forms of glassy water are the low-density amorphous (LDA) and the high-density amorphous (HDA) ices. LDA, the most abundant form of ice in the Universe, transforms into HDA upon isothermal compression. We model the transformation of LDA into HDA under isothermal compression with classical molecular dynamics simulations. We analyze the molecular structures with a recently introduced scalar order metric to measure short and intermediate range order. In addition, we rank the structures by their degree of hyperuniformity, i.e.,the extent to which long range density fluctuations are suppressed. F.M. and R.C. acknowledge support from the Department of Energy (DOE) under Grant No. DE-SC0008626.

Short range spread-spectrum radiolocation system and method

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Stephen F.

2003-04-29

A short range radiolocation system and associated methods that allow the location of an item, such as equipment, containers, pallets, vehicles, or personnel, within a defined area. A small, battery powered, self-contained tag is provided to an item to be located. The tag includes a spread-spectrum transmitter that transmits a spread-spectrum code and identification information. A plurality of receivers positioned about the area receive signals from a transmitting tag. The position of the tag, and hence the item, is located by triangulation. The system employs three different ranging techniques for providing coarse, intermediate, and fine spatial position resolution. Coarse positioning information is provided by use of direct-sequence code phase transmitted as a spread-spectrum signal. Intermediate positioning information is provided by the use of a difference signal transmitted with the direct-sequence spread-spectrum code. Fine positioning information is provided by use of carrier phase measurements. An algorithm is employed to combine the three data sets to provide accurate location measurements.

Short Range Air Defense in Army Divisions: Do We Really Need It

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Anderson, Charles

2000-01-01

Ever since the Soviet threat collapsed, coupled with the demonstrated, overwhelming, capability of our air forces during numerous operations in the 1990s, the relevance of the Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD...

Inside Dropbox: Understanding Personal Cloud Storage Services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Drago, Idilio; Mellia, Marco; Munafò, Maurizio M.; Sperotto, Anna; Sadre, R.; Pras, Aiko

2012-01-01

Personal cloud storage services are gaining popularity. With a rush of providers to enter the market and an increasing offer of cheap storage space, it is to be expected that cloud storage will soon generate a high amount of Internet traffic. Very little is known about the architecture and the

Towards Media Intercloud Standardization Evaluating Impact of Cloud Storage Heterogeneity

OpenAIRE

Aazam, Mohammad; StHilaire, Marc; Huh, EuiNam

2016-01-01

Digital media has been increasing very rapidly, resulting in cloud computing's popularity gain. Cloud computing provides ease of management of large amount of data and resources. With a lot of devices communicating over the Internet and with the rapidly increasing user demands, solitary clouds have to communicate to other clouds to fulfill the demands and discover services elsewhere. This scenario is called intercloud computing or cloud federation. Intercloud computing still lacks standard ar...

Study of the relations between cloud properties and atmospheric conditions using ground-based digital images

Science.gov (United States)

Bakalova, Kalinka

The aerosol constituents of the earth atmosphere are of great significance for the radiation budget and global climate of the planet. They are the precursors of clouds that in turn play an essential role in these processes and in the hydrological cycle of the Earth. Understanding the complex aerosol-cloud interactions requires a detailed knowledge of the dynamical processes moving the water vapor through the atmosphere, and of the physical mechanisms involved in the formation and growth of cloud particles. Ground-based observations on regional and short time scale provide valuable detailed information about atmospheric dynamics and cloud properties, and are used as a complementary tool to the global satellite observations. The objective of the present paper is to study the physical properties of clouds as displayed in ground-based visible images, and juxtapose them to the specific surface and atmospheric meteorological conditions. The observations are being carried out over the urban area of the city of Sofia, Bulgaria. The data obtained from visible images of clouds enable a quantitative description of texture and morphological features of clouds such as shape, thickness, motion, etc. These characteristics are related to cloud microphysical properties. The changes of relative humidity and the horizontal visibility are considered to be representative of the variations of the type (natural/manmade) and amount of the atmospheric aerosols near the earth surface, and potentially, the cloud drop number concentration. The atmospheric dynamics is accounted for by means of the values of the atmospheric pressure, temperature, wind velocity, etc., observed at the earth's surface. The advantage of ground-based observations of clouds compared to satellite ones is in the high spatial and temporal resolution of the obtained data about the lowermost cloud layer, which in turn is sensitive to the meteorological regimes that determine cloud formation and evolution. It turns out

Comparison of cloud optical depth and cloud mask applying BRDF model-based background surface reflectance

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, H. W.; Yeom, J. M.; Woo, S. H.

2017-12-01

Over the thin cloud region, satellite can simultaneously detect the reflectance from thin clouds and land surface. Since the mixed reflectance is not the exact cloud information, the background surface reflectance should be eliminated to accurately distinguish thin cloud such as cirrus. In the previous research, Kim et al (2017) was developed the cloud masking algorithm using the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI), which is one of significant instruments for Communication, Ocean, and Meteorology Satellite (COMS). Although GOCI has 8 spectral channels including visible and near infra-red spectral ranges, the cloud masking has quantitatively reasonable result when comparing with MODIS cloud mask (Collection 6 MYD35). Especially, we noticed that this cloud masking algorithm is more specialized in thin cloud detections through the validation with Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) data. Because this cloud masking method was concentrated on eliminating background surface effects from the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance. Applying the difference between TOA reflectance and the bi-directional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) model-based background surface reflectance, cloud areas both thick cloud and thin cloud can be discriminated without infra-red channels which were mostly used for detecting clouds. Moreover, when the cloud mask result was utilized as the input data when simulating BRDF model and the optimized BRDF model-based surface reflectance was used for the optimized cloud masking, the probability of detection (POD) has higher value than POD of the original cloud mask. In this study, we examine the correlation between cloud optical depth (COD) and its cloud mask result. Cloud optical depths mostly depend on the cloud thickness, the characteristic of contents, and the size of cloud contents. COD ranges from less than 0.1 for thin clouds to over 1000 for the huge cumulus due to scattering by droplets. With

Toward low-cloud-permitting cloud superparameterization with explicit boundary layer turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Parishani, Hossein; Pritchard, Michael S.; Bretherton, Christopher S.; Wyant, Matthew C.; Khairoutdinov, Marat

2017-07-01

Systematic biases in the representation of boundary layer (BL) clouds are a leading source of uncertainty in climate projections. A variation on superparameterization (SP) called "ultraparameterization" (UP) is developed, in which the grid spacing of the cloud-resolving models (CRMs) is fine enough (250 × 20 m) to explicitly capture the BL turbulence, associated clouds, and entrainment in a global climate model capable of multiyear simulations. UP is implemented within the Community Atmosphere Model using 2° resolution (˜14,000 embedded CRMs) with one-moment microphysics. By using a small domain and mean-state acceleration, UP is computationally feasible today and promising for exascale computers. Short-duration global UP hindcasts are compared with SP and satellite observations of top-of-atmosphere radiation and cloud vertical structure. The most encouraging improvement is a deeper BL and more realistic vertical structure of subtropical stratocumulus (Sc) clouds, due to stronger vertical eddy motions that promote entrainment. Results from 90 day integrations show climatological errors that are competitive with SP, with a significant improvement in the diurnal cycle of offshore Sc liquid water. Ongoing concerns with the current UP implementation include a dim bias for near-coastal Sc that also occurs less prominently in SP and a bright bias over tropical continental deep convection zones. Nevertheless, UP makes global eddy-permitting simulation a feasible and interesting alternative to conventionally parameterized GCMs or SP-GCMs with turbulence parameterizations for studying BL cloud-climate and cloud-aerosol feedback.

ACTRIS Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure

OpenAIRE

Pappalardo Gelsomina

2018-01-01

The Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS) is a distributed infrastructure dedicated to high-quality observation of aerosols, clouds, trace gases and exploration of their interactions. It will deliver precision data, services and procedures regarding the 4D variability of clouds, short-lived atmospheric species and the physical, optical and chemical properties of aerosols to improve the current capacity to analyse, understand and predict past, current and future evo...

EXAFS, Determination of Short Range Order and Local Structures in Materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koningsberger, D.C.; Prins, R.

1981-01-01

Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) is a powerful method of determining short range order and local structures in materials using X-ray photons produced by a synchrotron light source, or in-house by a high intensity rotating anode X-ray generator. The technique has provided valuable

Investigations of multiphoton excitation and ionization in a short range potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Susskind, S.M.; Cowley, S.C.; Valeo, E.J.

1989-02-01

We introduce an approach to the study of excitation and ionization for a system with a short range potential. In particular, analytical and numerical results are presented for the multiphoton ionization rate, under strong field conditions, of an electron confined by a δ-function potential. 9 refs., 3 figs

Investigations of multiphoton excitation and ionization in a short range potential

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Susskind, S.M.; Cowley, S.C.; Valeo, E.J.

1989-02-01

We introduce an approach to the study of excitation and ionization for a system with a short range potential. In particular, analytical and numerical results are presented for the multiphoton ionization rate, under strong field conditions, of an electron confined by a delta-function potential. 9 refs., 3 figs.

Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions and the Short-Range Structure of Nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cavanna, F. [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Palamara, O. [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Schiavilla, R. [Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, VA (United States); Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Soderberg, M. [Syracuse Univ., NY (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Wiringa, R. B. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2015-01-08

Improvements in theoretical modeling of Short Range structures and phenomena, and comparisons with data, will require sustained collaboration between nuclear theorists and neutrino experimentalists. The extensive history of studying this area of nuclear physics in electron- and hadron-scattering experiments, coupled with the transformative capabilities of LArTPCs to identify neutrinos, will provide a ripe opportunity for new discoveries that will further our understanding of the nucleus.

Getting started with ownCloud

CERN Document Server

Patawari, Aditya

2013-01-01

This is a standard, precise, and short tutorial for setting up ownCloud and includes advanced topics like encryption, user management, and server security. This ownCloud book would be an ideal starting point for anyone who wants to store their data and also share it.This book is for first time users as well as administrators who are interested or responsible for managing an ownCloud instance. You do not need any prior experience with any of the technology, including Linux/Windows, Apache/IIS, SQLite/MySQL, or even PHP. It is a beginner-friendly book, written with a first time user in mind.

Continuous growth of cloud droplets in cumulus cloud

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gotoh, Toshiyuki; Suehiro, Tamotsu; Saito, Izumi

2016-01-01

A new method to seamlessly simulate the continuous growth of droplets advected by turbulent flow inside a cumulus cloud was developed from first principle. A cubic box ascending with a mean updraft inside a cumulus cloud was introduced and the updraft velocity was self-consistently determined in such a way that the mean turbulent velocity within the box vanished. All the degrees of freedom of the cloud droplets and turbulence fields were numerically integrated. The box ascended quickly inside the cumulus cloud due to the updraft and the mean radius of the droplets grew from 10 to 24 μ m for about 10 min. The turbulent flow tended to slow down the time evolutions of the updraft velocity, the box altitude and the mean cloud droplet radius. The size distribution of the cloud droplets in the updraft case was narrower than in the absence of the updraft. It was also found that the wavenumeber spectra of the variances of the temperature and water vapor mixing ratio were nearly constant in the low wavenumber range. The future development of the new method was argued. (paper)

Optical remote measurement of ozone in cirrus clouds; Optische Fernmessung von Ozon in Zirruswolken

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reichardt, J. [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH (Germany). Inst. fuer Physikalische und Chemische Analytik

1998-12-31

The subject of this thesis is theoretical and experimental investigations into the simultaneous optical remote measurement of atmospheric ozone concentration and particle properties. A lidar system was developed that combines the Raman-lidar and the polarization-lidar with the Raman-DIAL technique. An error analysis is given for ozone measurements in clouds. It turns out that the wavelength dependencies of photon multiple scattering and of the particle extinction coefficient necessitate a correction of the measured ozone concentration. To quantify the cloud influence, model calculations based on particle size distributions of spheres are carried out. The most important experimental result of this thesis is the measured evidence of pronounced minima in the ozone distribution in a humid upper troposphere shortly before and during cirrus observation. Good correlation between ozone-depleted altitude ranges and ice clouds is found. This finding is in contrast to ozone profiles measured in a dry and cloud-free troposphere. (orig.) 151 refs.

Age differences in visual search for compound patterns: long- versus short-range grouping.

Science.gov (United States)

Burack, J A; Enns, J T; Iarocci, G; Randolph, B

2000-11-01

Visual search for compound patterns was examined in observers aged 6, 8, 10, and 22 years. The main question was whether age-related improvement in search rate (response time slope over number of items) was different for patterns defined by short- versus long-range spatial relations. Perceptual access to each type of relation was varied by using elements of same contrast (easy to access) or mixed contrast (hard to access). The results showed large improvements with age in search rate for long-range targets; search rate for short-range targets was fairly constant across age. This pattern held regardless of whether perceptual access to a target was easy or hard, supporting the hypothesis that different processes are involved in perceptual grouping at these two levels. The results also point to important links between ontogenic and microgenic change in perception (H. Werner, 1948, 1957).

A cloud shadow detection method combined with cloud height iteration and spectral analysis for Landsat 8 OLI data

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Lin; Liu, Xinyan; Yang, Yikun; Chen, TingTing; Wang, Quan; Zhou, Xueying

2018-04-01

Although enhanced over prior Landsat instruments, Landsat 8 OLI can obtain very high cloud detection precisions, but for the detection of cloud shadows, it still faces great challenges. Geometry-based cloud shadow detection methods are considered the most effective and are being improved constantly. The Function of Mask (Fmask) cloud shadow detection method is one of the most representative geometry-based methods that has been used for cloud shadow detection with Landsat 8 OLI. However, the Fmask method estimates cloud height employing fixed temperature rates, which are highly uncertain, and errors of large area cloud shadow detection can be caused by errors in estimations of cloud height. This article improves the geometry-based cloud shadow detection method for Landsat OLI from the following two aspects. (1) Cloud height no longer depends on the brightness temperature of the thermal infrared band but uses a possible dynamic range from 200 m to 12,000 m. In this case, cloud shadow is not a specific location but a possible range. Further analysis was carried out in the possible range based on the spectrum to determine cloud shadow location. This effectively avoids the cloud shadow leakage caused by the error in the height determination of a cloud. (2) Object-based and pixel spectral analyses are combined to detect cloud shadows, which can realize cloud shadow detection from two aspects of target scale and pixel scale. Based on the analysis of the spectral differences between the cloud shadow and typical ground objects, the best cloud shadow detection bands of Landsat 8 OLI were determined. The combined use of spectrum and shape can effectively improve the detection precision of cloud shadows produced by thin clouds. Several cloud shadow detection experiments were carried out, and the results were verified by the results of artificial recognition. The results of these experiments indicated that this method can identify cloud shadows in different regions with correct

HF propagation results from the Metal Oxide Space Cloud (MOSC) experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, Dev; Groves, Keith M.; McNeil, William; Carrano, Charles; Caton, Ronald G.; Parris, Richard T.; Pederson, Todd R.; Cannon, Paul S.; Angling, Matthew; Jackson-Booth, Natasha

2017-06-01

With support from the NASA sounding rocket program, the Air Force Research Laboratory launched two sounding rockets in the Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands in May 2013 known as the Metal Oxide Space Cloud experiment. The rockets released samarium metal vapor at preselected altitudes in the lower F region that ionized forming a plasma cloud. Data from Advanced Research Project Agency Long-range Tracking and Identification Radar incoherent scatter radar and high-frequency (HF) radio links have been analyzed to understand the impacts of the artificial ionization on radio wave propagation. The HF radio wave ray-tracing toolbox PHaRLAP along with ionospheric models constrained by electron density profiles measured with the ALTAIR radar have been used to successfully model the effects of the cloud on HF propagation. Up to three new propagation paths were created by the artificial plasma injections. Observations and modeling confirm that the small amounts of ionized material injected in the lower F region resulted in significant changes to the natural HF propagation environment.

High-performance parallel approaches for three-dimensional light detection and ranging point clouds gridding

Science.gov (United States)

Rizki, Permata Nur Miftahur; Lee, Heezin; Lee, Minsu; Oh, Sangyoon

2017-01-01

With the rapid advance of remote sensing technology, the amount of three-dimensional point-cloud data has increased extraordinarily, requiring faster processing in the construction of digital elevation models. There have been several attempts to accelerate the computation using parallel methods; however, little attention has been given to investigating different approaches for selecting the most suited parallel programming model for a given computing environment. We present our findings and insights identified by implementing three popular high-performance parallel approaches (message passing interface, MapReduce, and GPGPU) on time demanding but accurate kriging interpolation. The performances of the approaches are compared by varying the size of the grid and input data. In our empirical experiment, we demonstrate the significant acceleration by all three approaches compared to a C-implemented sequential-processing method. In addition, we also discuss the pros and cons of each method in terms of usability, complexity infrastructure, and platform limitation to give readers a better understanding of utilizing those parallel approaches for gridding purposes.

ACTRIS Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Pappalardo, Gelsomina

2018-04-01

The Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS) is a distributed infrastructure dedicated to high-quality observation of aerosols, clouds, trace gases and exploration of their interactions. It will deliver precision data, services and procedures regarding the 4D variability of clouds, short-lived atmospheric species and the physical, optical and chemical properties of aerosols to improve the current capacity to analyse, understand and predict past, current and future evolution of the atmospheric environment.

Short-range order in InSb amorphized under ion bombardment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavlov, P.V.; Tetel'baum, D.I.; Gerasimov, A.I.

1979-01-01

The investigation of short-range order is carried out in polycrystal InSb films, irradiated with Ne + ions with E=150 keV and with the 2x10 15 ion/cm 2 dose. The data are obtained testifying to the film amorphization, the cause of which is the defect storage but not the local melting. Stability of the obtained amorphous phase at the room temperature is noted

The Community Cloud Atlas - Building an Informed Cloud Watching Community

Science.gov (United States)

Guy, N.; Rowe, A.

2014-12-01

The sky is dynamic, from long lasting cloud systems to ethereal, fleeting formations. After years of observing the sky and growing our personal collections of cloud photos, we decided to take to social media to share pictures, as well as build and educate a community of cloud enthusiasts. We began a Facebook page, the Community Cloud Atlas, described as "...the place to show off your pictures of the sky, identify clouds, and to discuss how specific cloud types form and what they can tell you about current and future weather." Our main goal has been to encourage others to share their pictures, while we describe the scenes from a meteorological perspective and reach out to the general public to facilitate a deeper understanding of the sky. Nearly 16 months later, we have over 1400 "likes," spanning 45 countries with ages ranging from 13 to over 65. We have a consistent stream of submissions; so many that we decided to start a corresponding blog to better organize the photos, provide more detailed explanations, and reach a bigger audience. Feedback from users has been positive in support of not only sharing cloud pictures, but also to "learn the science as well as admiring" the clouds. As one community member stated, "This is not 'just' a place to share some lovely pictures." We have attempted to blend our social media presence with providing an educational resource, and we are encouraged by the response we have received. Our Atlas has been informally implemented into classrooms, ranging from a 6th grade science class to Meteorology courses at universities. NOVA's recent Cloud Lab also made use of our Atlas as a supply of categorized pictures. Our ongoing goal is to not only continue to increase understanding and appreciation of the sky among the public, but to provide an increasingly useful tool for educators. We continue to explore different social media options to interact with the public and provide easier content submission, as well as software options for

Impact of cloud microphysics on cloud-radiation interactions in the CSU general circulation model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fowler, L.D.; Randall, D.A.

1995-04-01

Our ability to study and quantify the impact of cloud-radiation interactions in studying global scale climate variations strongly relies upon the ability of general circulation models (GCMs) to simulate the coupling between the spatial and temporal variations of the model-generated cloudiness and atmospheric moisture budget components. In particular, the ability of GCMs to reproduce the geographical distribution of the sources and sinks of the planetary radiation balance depends upon their representation of the formation and dissipation of cloudiness in conjunction with cloud microphysics processes, and the fractional amount and optical characteristics of cloudiness in conjunction with the mass of condensate stored in the atmosphere. A cloud microphysics package which encompasses five prognostic variables for the mass of water vapor, cloud water, cloud ice, rain, and snow has been implemented in the Colorado State University General Circulation Model (CSU GCM) to simulate large-scale condensation processes. Convection interacts with the large-scale environment through the detrainment of cloud water and cloud ice at the top of cumulus towers. The cloud infrared emissivity and cloud optical depth of the model-generated cloudiness are interactive and depend upon the mass of cloud water and cloud ice suspended in the atmosphere. The global atmospheric moisture budget and planetary radiation budget of the CSU GCM obtained from a perpetual January simulation are discussed. Geographical distributions of the atmospheric moisture species are presented. Global maps of the top-of-atmosphere outgoing longwave radiation and planetary albedo are compared against Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) satellite data.

Attractive short-range interatomic potential in the lattice dynamics of niobium and tantalum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onwuagba, B.N.; Pal, S.

1987-01-01

It is shown in the framework of the pseudopotential approach that there is a sizable attractive short-range component of the interatomic potential due to the s-d interaction which has the same functional form in real space as the Born-Mayer repulsion due to the overlap of core electron wave functions centred on neighbouring ions. The magnitude of this attractive component is such as to completely cancel the conventional Born-Mayer repulsion, making the resultant short-range interatomic potential attractive rather than repulsive. Numerical calculations show that the attractive interatomics potential, which represents the local-field correction, leads to a better understanding of the occurrence of the soft modes in the phonon dispersion curves of niobium and tantalum

Freely cooling granular gases with short-ranged attractive potentials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murphy, Eric; Subramaniam, Shankar, E-mail: shankar@iastate.edu [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Center for Multiphase Flow Research, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011 (United States)

2015-04-15

We treat the case of an undriven gas of inelastic hard-spheres with short-ranged attractive potentials via an extension of the pseudo-Liouville operator formalism. New evolution equations for the granular temperature and coordination number are obtained. The granular temperature exhibits deviation from both Haff’s law and the case of long-ranged potentials. We verify this departure using soft-sphere discrete element method simulations. Excellent agreement is found for the duration of the simulation even beyond where exclusively binary collisions are expected. Simulations show the emergence of strong spatial-velocity correlations on the length scale of the last peak in the pair-correlation function but do not show strong correlations beyond this length scale. We argue that molecular chaos may remain an adequate approximation if the system is modelled as a Smoluchowski type equation with aggregation and break-up processes.

Study of an Ising model with competing long- and short-range interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loew, U.; Emery, V.J.; Fabricius, K.; Kivelson, S.A.

1994-01-01

A classical spin-one lattice gas model is used to study the competition between short-range ferromagnetic coupling and long-range antiferromagnetic Coulomb interactions. The model is a coarse-grained representation of frustrated phase separation in high-temperature superconductors. The ground states are determined for the complete range of parameters by using a combination of numerical and analytical techniques. The crossover between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic states proceeds via a rich structure of highly symmetric striped and checkerboard phases. There is no devil's staircase behavior because mixtures of stripes with different period phase separate

Radiative Importance of Aerosol-Cloud Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Tsay, Si-Chee

1999-01-01

Aerosol particles are input into the troposphere by biomass burning, among other sources. These aerosol palls cover large expanses of the earth's surface. Aerosols may directly scatter solar radiation back to space, thus increasing the earth's albedo and act to cool the earth's surface and atmosphere. Aerosols also contribute to the earth's energy balance indirectly. Hygroscopic aerosol act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and thus affects cloud properties. In 1977, Twomey theorized that additional available CCN would create smaller but more numerous cloud droplets in a cloud with a given amount of liquid water. This in turn would increase the cloud albedo which would scatter additional radiation back to space and create a similar cooling pattern as the direct aerosol effect. Estimates of the magnitude of the aerosol indirect effect on a global scale range from 0.0 to -4.8 W/sq m. Thus the indirect effect can be of comparable magnitude and opposite in sign to the estimates of global greenhouse gas forcing Aerosol-cloud interaction is not a one-way process. Just as aerosols have an influence on clouds through the cloud microphysics, clouds have an influence on aerosols. Cloud droplets are solutions of liquid water and CCN, now dissolved. When the cloud droplet evaporates it leaves behind an aerosol particle. This new particle does not have to have the same properties as the original CCN. In fact, studies show that aerosol particles that result from cloud processing are larger in size than the original CCN. Optical properties of aerosol particles are dependent on the size of the particles. Larger particles have a smaller backscattering fraction, and thus less incoming solar radiation will be backscattered to space if the aerosol particles are larger. Therefore, we see that aerosols and clouds modify each other to influence the radiative balance of the earth. Understanding and quantifying the spatial and seasonal patterns of the aerosol indirect forcing may have

Fast Molecular Cloud Destruction Requires Fast Cloud Formation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mac Low, Mordecai-Mark [American Museum of Natural History, 79th Street at Central Park West, New York, NY 10024 (United States); Burkert, Andreas [Universitäts Sternwarte München, Ludwigs-Maximilian-Universität, D-81679 München (Germany); Ibáñez-Mejía, Juan C., E-mail: mordecai@amnh.org, E-mail: burkert@usm.lmu.de, E-mail: ibanez@ph1.uni-koeln.de [Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, D-85748 Garching bei München (Germany)

2017-09-20

A large fraction of the gas in the Galaxy is cold, dense, and molecular. If all this gas collapsed under the influence of gravity and formed stars in a local free-fall time, the star formation rate in the Galaxy would exceed that observed by more than an order of magnitude. Other star-forming galaxies behave similarly. Yet, observations and simulations both suggest that the molecular gas is indeed gravitationally collapsing, albeit hierarchically. Prompt stellar feedback offers a potential solution to the low observed star formation rate if it quickly disrupts star-forming clouds during gravitational collapse. However, this requires that molecular clouds must be short-lived objects, raising the question of how so much gas can be observed in the molecular phase. This can occur only if molecular clouds form as quickly as they are destroyed, maintaining a global equilibrium fraction of dense gas. We therefore examine cloud formation timescales. We first demonstrate that supernova and superbubble sweeping cannot produce dense gas at the rate required to match the cloud destruction rate. On the other hand, Toomre gravitational instability can reach the required production rate. We thus argue that, although dense, star-forming gas may last only around a single global free-fall time; the dense gas in star-forming galaxies can globally exist in a state of dynamic equilibrium between formation by gravitational instability and disruption by stellar feedback. At redshift z ≳ 2, the Toomre instability timescale decreases, resulting in a prediction of higher molecular gas fractions at early times, in agreement with the observations.

Cloud Computing Security: A Survey

OpenAIRE

Khalil, Issa; Khreishah, Abdallah; Azeem, Muhammad

2014-01-01

Cloud computing is an emerging technology paradigm that migrates current technological and computing concepts into utility-like solutions similar to electricity and water systems. Clouds bring out a wide range of benefits including configurable computing resources, economic savings, and service flexibility. However, security and privacy concerns are shown to be the primary obstacles to a wide adoption of clouds. The new concepts that clouds introduce, such as multi-tenancy, resource sharing a...

CloudLM: a Cloud-based Language Model for Machine Translation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferrández-Tordera Jorge

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Language models (LMs are an essential element in statistical approaches to natural language processing for tasks such as speech recognition and machine translation (MT. The advent of big data leads to the availability of massive amounts of data to build LMs, and in fact, for the most prominent languages, using current techniques and hardware, it is not feasible to train LMs with all the data available nowadays. At the same time, it has been shown that the more data is used for a LM the better the performance, e.g. for MT, without any indication yet of reaching a plateau. This paper presents CloudLM, an open-source cloud-based LM intended for MT, which allows to query distributed LMs. CloudLM relies on Apache Solr and provides the functionality of state-of-the-art language modelling (it builds upon KenLM, while allowing to query massive LMs (as the use of local memory is drastically reduced, at the expense of slower decoding speed.

Using Satellite Observations to Evaluate the AeroCOM Volcanic Emissions Inventory and the Dispersal of Volcanic SO2 Clouds in MERRA

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Eric J.; Krotkov, Nickolay; da Silva, Arlindo; Colarco, Peter

2015-01-01

Simulation of volcanic emissions in climate models requires information that describes the eruption of the emissions into the atmosphere. While the total amount of gases and aerosols released from a volcanic eruption can be readily estimated from satellite observations, information about the source parameters, like injection altitude, eruption time and duration, is often not directly known. The AeroCOM volcanic emissions inventory provides estimates of eruption source parameters and has been used to initialize volcanic emissions in reanalysis projects, like MERRA. The AeroCOM volcanic emission inventory provides an eruptions daily SO2 flux and plume top altitude, yet an eruption can be very short lived, lasting only a few hours, and emit clouds at multiple altitudes. Case studies comparing the satellite observed dispersal of volcanic SO2 clouds to simulations in MERRA have shown mixed results. Some cases show good agreement with observations Okmok (2008), while for other eruptions the observed initial SO2 mass is half of that in the simulations, Sierra Negra (2005). In other cases, the initial SO2 amount agrees with the observations but shows very different dispersal rates, Soufriere Hills (2006). In the aviation hazards community, deriving accurate source terms is crucial for monitoring and short-term forecasting (24-h) of volcanic clouds. Back trajectory methods have been developed which use satellite observations and transport models to estimate the injection altitude, eruption time, and eruption duration of observed volcanic clouds. These methods can provide eruption timing estimates on a 2-hour temporal resolution and estimate the altitude and depth of a volcanic cloud. To better understand the differences between MERRA simulations and volcanic SO2 observations, back trajectory methods are used to estimate the source term parameters for a few volcanic eruptions and compared to their corresponding entry in the AeroCOM volcanic emission inventory. The nature of

Triggering Collapse of the Presolar Dense Cloud Core and Injecting Short-lived Radioisotopes with a Shock Wave. V. Nonisothermal Collapse Regime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boss, Alan P., E-mail: aboss@carnegiescience.edu [Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution for Science, 5241 Broad Branch Road, NW, Washington, DC 20015-1305 (United States)

2017-08-01

Recent meteoritical analyses support an initial abundance of the short-lived radioisotope (SLRI) {sup 60}Fe that may be high enough to require nucleosynthesis in a core-collapse supernova, followed by rapid incorporation into primitive meteoritical components, rather than a scenario where such isotopes were inherited from a well-mixed region of a giant molecular cloud polluted by a variety of supernovae remnants and massive star winds. This paper continues to explore the former scenario, by calculating three-dimensional, adaptive mesh refinement, hydrodynamical code (FLASH 2.5) models of the self-gravitational, dynamical collapse of a molecular cloud core that has been struck by a thin shock front with a speed of 40 km s{sup −1}, leading to the injection of shock front matter into the collapsing cloud through the formation of Rayleigh–Taylor fingers at the shock–cloud intersection. These models extend the previous work into the nonisothermal collapse regime using a polytropic approximation to represent compressional heating in the optically thick protostar. The models show that the injection efficiencies of shock front materials are enhanced compared to previous models, which were not carried into the nonisothermal regime, and so did not reach such high densities. The new models, combined with the recent estimates of initial {sup 60}Fe abundances, imply that the supernova triggering and injection scenario remains a plausible explanation for the origin of the SLRIs involved in the formation of our solar system.

Comparison of CloudSat and TRMM radar reflectivities

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Tropical deep convective clouds drive the large scale circulation of ... information concerning tropical clouds since 1998 ..... and CloudSat Data Processing Center, NASA for providing .... ical precipitating clouds ranging from shallow to deep.

ACTRIS Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pappalardo Gelsomina

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS is a distributed infrastructure dedicated to high-quality observation of aerosols, clouds, trace gases and exploration of their interactions. It will deliver precision data, services and procedures regarding the 4D variability of clouds, short-lived atmospheric species and the physical, optical and chemical properties of aerosols to improve the current capacity to analyse, understand and predict past, current and future evolution of the atmospheric environment.

Science in the cloud (SIC): A use case in MRI connectomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiar, Gregory; Gorgolewski, Krzysztof J; Kleissas, Dean; Roncal, William Gray; Litt, Brian; Wandell, Brian; Poldrack, Russel A; Wiener, Martin; Vogelstein, R Jacob; Burns, Randal; Vogelstein, Joshua T

2017-05-01

Modern technologies are enabling scientists to collect extraordinary amounts of complex and sophisticated data across a huge range of scales like never before. With this onslaught of data, we can allow the focal point to shift from data collection to data analysis. Unfortunately, lack of standardized sharing mechanisms and practices often make reproducing or extending scientific results very difficult. With the creation of data organization structures and tools that drastically improve code portability, we now have the opportunity to design such a framework for communicating extensible scientific discoveries. Our proposed solution leverages these existing technologies and standards, and provides an accessible and extensible model for reproducible research, called 'science in the cloud' (SIC). Exploiting scientific containers, cloud computing, and cloud data services, we show the capability to compute in the cloud and run a web service that enables intimate interaction with the tools and data presented. We hope this model will inspire the community to produce reproducible and, importantly, extensible results that will enable us to collectively accelerate the rate at which scientific breakthroughs are discovered, replicated, and extended. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

A multilinear regression methodology to analyze the effect of atmospheric and surface forcing on Arctic clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Boeke, R.; Taylor, P. C.; Li, Y.

2017-12-01

Arctic cloud amount as simulated in CMIP5 models displays large intermodel spread- models disagree on the processes important for cloud formation as well as the radiative impact of clouds. The radiative response to cloud forcing can be better assessed when the drivers of Arctic cloud formation are known. Arctic cloud amount (CA) is a function of both atmospheric and surface conditions, and it is crucial to separate the influences of unique processes to understand why the models are different. This study uses a multilinear regression methodology to determine cloud changes using 3 variables as predictors: lower tropospheric stability (LTS), 500-hPa vertical velocity (ω500), and sea ice concentration (SIC). These three explanatory variables were chosen because their effects on clouds can be attributed to unique climate processes: LTS is a thermodynamic indicator of the relationship between clouds and atmospheric stability, SIC determines the interaction between clouds and the surface, and ω500 is a metric for dynamical change. Vertical, seasonal profiles of necessary variables are obtained from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) historical simulation, an ocean-atmosphere couple model forced with the best-estimate natural and anthropogenic radiative forcing from 1850-2005, and statistical significance tests are used to confirm the regression equation. A unique heuristic model will be constructed for each climate model and for observations, and models will be tested by their ability to capture the observed cloud amount and behavior. Lastly, the intermodel spread in Arctic cloud amount will be attributed to individual processes, ranking the relative contributions of each factor to shed light on emergent constraints in the Arctic cloud radiative effect.

THE MASS-SIZE RELATION FROM CLOUDS TO CORES. II. SOLAR NEIGHBORHOOD CLOUDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kauffmann, J.; Shetty, R.; Goodman, A. A.; Pillai, T.; Myers, P. C.

2010-01-01

We measure the mass and size of cloud fragments in several molecular clouds continuously over a wide range of spatial scales (0.05 ∼ 2 , is not well suited to describe the derived mass-size data. Solar neighborhood clouds not forming massive stars (∼ sun ; Pipe Nebula, Taurus, Perseus, and Ophiuchus) obey m(r) ≤ 870 M sun (r/pc) 1.33 . In contrast to this, clouds forming massive stars (Orion A, G10.15 - 0.34, G11.11 - 0.12) do exceed the aforementioned relation. Thus, this limiting mass-size relation may approximate a threshold for the formation of massive stars. Across all clouds, cluster-forming cloud fragments are found to be-at given radius-more massive than fragments devoid of clusters. The cluster-bearing fragments are found to roughly obey a mass-size law m ∝ r 1.27 (where the exponent is highly uncertain in any given cloud, but is certainly smaller than 1.5).

Short-Range Noncontact Sensors for Healthcare and Other Emerging Applications: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Changzhan Gu

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Short-range noncontact sensors are capable of remotely detecting the precise movements of the subjects or wirelessly estimating the distance from the sensor to the subject. They find wide applications in our day lives such as noncontact vital sign detection of heart beat and respiration, sleep monitoring, occupancy sensing, and gesture sensing. In recent years, short-range noncontact sensors are attracting more and more efforts from both academia and industry due to their vast applications. Compared to other radar architectures such as pulse radar and frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW radar, Doppler radar is gaining more popularity in terms of system integration and low-power operation. This paper reviews the recent technical advances in Doppler radars for healthcare applications, including system hardware improvement, digital signal processing, and chip integration. This paper also discusses the hybrid FMCW-interferometry radars and the emerging applications and the future trends.

Sharing Planetary-Scale Data in the Cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Sundwall, J.; Flasher, J.

2016-12-01

On 19 March 2015, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced Landsat on AWS, an initiative to make data from the U.S. Geological Survey's Landsat satellite program freely available in the cloud. Because of Landsat's global coverage and long history, it has become a reference point for all Earth observation work and is considered the gold standard of natural resource satellite imagery. Within the first year of Landsat on AWS, the service served over a billion requests for Landsat imagery and metadata, globally. Availability of the data in the cloud has led to new product development by companies and startups including Mapbox, Esri, CartoDB, MathWorks, Development Seed, Trimble, Astro Digital, Blue Raster and Timbr.io. The model of staging data for analysis in the cloud established by Landsat on AWS has since been applied to high resolution radar data, European Space Agency satellite imagery, global elevation data and EPA air quality models. This session will provide an overview of lessons learned throughout these projects. It will demonstrate how cloud-based object storage is democratizing access to massive publicly-funded data sets that have previously only been available to people with access to large amounts of storage, bandwidth, and computing power. Technical discussion points will include: The differences between staging data for analysis using object storage versus file storage Using object stores to design simple RESTful APIs through thoughtful file naming conventions, header fields, and HTTP Range Requests Managing costs through data architecture and Amazon S3's "requester pays" feature Building tools that allow users to take their algorithm to the data in the cloud Using serverless technologies to display dynamic frontends for massive data sets

Cloud phase identification of Arctic boundary-layer clouds from airborne spectral reflection measurements: test of three approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Ehrlich

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Arctic boundary-layer clouds were investigated with remote sensing and in situ instruments during the Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation (ASTAR campaign in March and April 2007. The clouds formed in a cold air outbreak over the open Greenland Sea. Beside the predominant mixed-phase clouds pure liquid water and ice clouds were observed. Utilizing measurements of solar radiation reflected by the clouds three methods to retrieve the thermodynamic phase of the cloud are introduced and compared. Two ice indices I_S and I_P were obtained by analyzing the spectral pattern of the cloud top reflectance in the near infrared (1500–1800 nm wavelength spectral range which is characterized by ice and water absorption. While I_S analyzes the spectral slope of the reflectance in this wavelength range, I_S utilizes a principle component analysis (PCA of the spectral reflectance. A third ice index I_A is based on the different side scattering of spherical liquid water particles and nonspherical ice crystals which was recorded in simultaneous measurements of spectral cloud albedo and reflectance.

Radiative transfer simulations show that I_S, I_P and I_A range between 5 to 80, 0 to 8 and 1 to 1.25 respectively with lowest values indicating pure liquid water clouds and highest values pure ice clouds. The spectral slope ice index I_S and the PCA ice index I_P are found to be strongly sensitive to the effective diameter of the ice crystals present in the cloud. Therefore, the identification of mixed-phase clouds requires a priori knowledge of the ice crystal dimension. The reflectance-albedo ice index I_A is mainly dominated by the uppermost cloud layer (τ<1.5. Therefore, typical boundary-layer mixed-phase clouds with a liquid cloud top layer will

G-Cloud Monitor: A Cloud Monitoring System for Factory Automation for Sustainable Green Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hwa-Young Jeong

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Green and cloud computing (G-cloud are new trends in all areas of computing. The G-cloud provides an efficient function, which enables users to access their programs, systems and platforms at anytime and anyplace. Green computing can also yield greener technology by reducing power consumption for sustainable environments. Furthermore, in order to apply user needs to the system development, the user characteristics are regarded as some of the most important factors to be considered in product industries. In this paper, we propose a cloud monitoring system to observe and manage the manufacturing system/factory automation for sustainable green computing. For monitoring systems, we utilized the resources in the G-cloud environments, and hence, it can reduce the amount of system resources and devices, such as system power and processes. In addition, we propose adding a user profile to the monitoring system in order to provide a user-friendly function. That is, this function allows system configurations to be automatically matched to the individual’s requirements, thus increasing efficiency.

Cloud radiative effects and changes simulated by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 models

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Sun-Hee; Kim, Ok-Yeon; Kim, Dongmin; Lee, Myong-In

2017-07-01

Using 32 CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) models, this study examines the veracity in the simulation of cloud amount and their radiative effects (CREs) in the historical run driven by observed external radiative forcing for 1850-2005, and their future changes in the RCP (Representative Concentration Pathway) 4.5 scenario runs for 2006-2100. Validation metrics for the historical run are designed to examine the accuracy in the representation of spatial patterns for climatological mean, and annual and interannual variations of clouds and CREs. The models show large spread in the simulation of cloud amounts, specifically in the low cloud amount. The observed relationship between cloud amount and the controlling large-scale environment are also reproduced diversely by various models. Based on the validation metrics, four models—ACCESS1.0, ACCESS1.3, HadGEM2-CC, and HadGEM2-ES—are selected as best models, and the average of the four models performs more skillfully than the multimodel ensemble average. All models project global-mean SST warming at the increase of the greenhouse gases, but the magnitude varies across the simulations between 1 and 2 K, which is largely attributable to the difference in the change of cloud amount and distribution. The models that simulate more SST warming show a greater increase in the net CRE due to reduced low cloud and increased incoming shortwave radiation, particularly over the regions of marine boundary layer in the subtropics. Selected best-performing models project a significant reduction in global-mean cloud amount of about -0.99% K-1 and net radiative warming of 0.46 W m-2 K-1, suggesting a role of positive feedback to global warming.

Hybrid gesture recognition system for short-range use

Science.gov (United States)

Minagawa, Akihiro; Fan, Wei; Katsuyama, Yutaka; Takebe, Hiroaki; Ozawa, Noriaki; Hotta, Yoshinobu; Sun, Jun

2012-03-01

In recent years, various gesture recognition systems have been studied for use in television and video games[1]. In such systems, motion areas ranging from 1 to 3 meters deep have been evaluated[2]. However, with the burgeoning popularity of small mobile displays, gesture recognition systems capable of operating at much shorter ranges have become necessary. The problems related to such systems are exacerbated by the fact that the camera's field of view is unknown to the user during operation, which imposes several restrictions on his/her actions. To overcome the restrictions generated from such mobile camera devices, and to create a more flexible gesture recognition interface, we propose a hybrid hand gesture system, in which two types of gesture recognition modules are prepared and with which the most appropriate recognition module is selected by a dedicated switching module. The two recognition modules of this system are shape analysis using a boosting approach (detection-based approach)[3] and motion analysis using image frame differences (motion-based approach)(for example, see[4]). We evaluated this system using sample users and classified the resulting errors into three categories: errors that depend on the recognition module, errors caused by incorrect module identification, and errors resulting from user actions. In this paper, we show the results of our investigations and explain the problems related to short-range gesture recognition systems.

Characterization of Mixed-Phase Clouds in the Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, T. C.; Hallett, J.

2005-12-01

partitioned in two halves with one section nucleated by a liquid nitrogen cooled wire. When the halves were mixed the glaciation time was too short to measure, due to the fact that the nucleating process produced too many ice particles initially and this resulted in too rapid an evaporation-deposition process. Subsequently the freezer was partitioned into a large volume containing a high LWC cloud of supercooled water and a small volume of low LWC cloud. The smaller volume was nucleated with a low initial pressure air pistol discharge. (The number of ice particles produced in such a nucleation process can be determined by discharging the pistol into a full freezer of supercooled cloud, rapidly stirring the cloud, and measuring the average ice particle separation.) Then the barrier is removed and the clouds mixed and at a measured time later the pistol is discharged a second time, at a higher initial pressure, to test for the cloud glaciation state. Theory associated with the evolution of the mixed cloud, in which water droplets evaporate and crystals grow, is well known and equations developed using the Bergeron-Findeison theory are used in this study. Glaciation times are measured for different initial ice particle concentration and LWC. They are long, of the order of tens of seconds, for low concentrations of ice particles in the initial mixed cloud and large LWC. This is consistent with theory. It is suggested that the technique we employ may prove useful on a small scale in determining the amount of glaciation of natural clouds.

Evolution of particle clouds around ablating pellets in magnetically confined hot plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lengyel, L.L.

1991-08-01

Cryogenic hydrogen isotope pellets are being currently used for introducing fuel particles into the palsma interior in magnetic confinement fusion experiments. The spatial and time evolution of the initially low-temperature high-density particle clouds forming around such pellets are considered here, with particular attention being given to such physical processes as heating of the cloud by the energy fluxes carried by incident plasma particles, gasdynamic expansion with j vectorxB vector - produced deceleration in the transverse direction, finite-rate ionization and recombination processes, and magnetic field convection and diffusion. While the dynamic processes associated with the ionization and radial confinement processes are characterized by the relatively short Alfven time scale (μs range), the subsequent phase of axial expansion is associated with a notably larger hadrodynamic time scale defined by the heat input and gasdynamic expansion rates (ms range). Data stemming from experimental measurements in toroidal confinement machines are compared with results of model calculations. Some similarities with space plasmas are briefly discussed. (orig.)

Short-arc orbit determination using coherent X-band ranging data

Science.gov (United States)

Thurman, S. W.; Mcelrath, T. P.; Pollmeier, V. M.

1992-01-01

The use of X-band frequencies in ground-spacecraft and spacecraft-ground telecommunication links for current and future robotic interplanetary missions makes it possible to perform ranging measurements of greater accuracy than previously obtained. It is shown that ranging data of sufficient accuracy, when acquired from multiple stations, can sense the geocentric angular position of a distant spacecraft. The application of high-accuracy S/X-band and X-band ranging to orbit determination with relatively short data arcs is investigated in planetary approach and encounter scenarios. Actual trajectory solutions for the Ulysses spacecraft constructed from S/X-band ranging and Doppler data are presented; error covariance calculations are used to predict the performance of X-band ranging and Doppler data. The Ulysses trajectory solutions indicate that the aim point for the spacecraft's February 1992 Jupiter encounter was predicted to a geocentric accuracy of 0.20 to 0.23/microrad. Explicit modeling of range bias parameters for each station pass is shown to largely remove systematic ground system calibration errors and transmission media effects from the Ulysses range measurements, which would otherwise corrupt the angle finding capabilities of the data. The Ulysses solutions were found to be reasonably consistent with the theoretical results, which suggest that angular accuracies of 0.08 to 0.1/microrad are achievable with X-band ranging.

The effect of cloud liquid water on tropospheric temperature retrievals from microwave measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Bernet

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Microwave radiometry is a suitable technique to measure atmospheric temperature profiles with high temporal resolution during clear sky and cloudy conditions. In this study, we included cloud models in the inversion algorithm of the microwave radiometer TEMPERA (TEMPErature RAdiometer to determine the effect of cloud liquid water on the temperature retrievals. The cloud models were built based on measurements of cloud base altitude and integrated liquid water (ILW, all performed at the aerological station (MeteoSwiss in Payerne (Switzerland. Cloud base altitudes were detected using ceilometer measurements while the ILW was measured by a HATPRO (Humidity And Temperature PROfiler radiometer. To assess the quality of the TEMPERA retrieval when clouds were considered, the resulting temperature profiles were compared to 2 years of radiosonde measurements. The TEMPERA instrument measures radiation at 12 channels in the frequency range from 51 to 57 GHz, corresponding to the left wing of the oxygen emission line complex. When the full spectral information with all the 12 frequency channels was used, we found a marked improvement in the temperature retrievals after including a cloud model. The chosen cloud model influenced the resulting temperature profile, especially for high clouds and clouds with a large amount of liquid water. Using all 12 channels, however, presented large deviations between different cases, suggesting that additional uncertainties exist in the lower, more transparent channels. Using less spectral information with the higher, more opaque channels only also improved the temperature profiles when clouds where included, but the influence of the chosen cloud model was less important. We conclude that tropospheric temperature profiles can be optimized by considering clouds in the microwave retrieval, and that the choice of the cloud model has a direct impact on the resulting temperature profile.

Can clouds enhance long-range transport of low volatile, ionizable and surface-active chemicals?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Franco, Antonio; Trapp, Stefan

2011-01-01

Atmospheric partitioning and transport of low volatile organic compounds is strongly influenced by the presence of water (e.g. clouds) and its deposition velocity (e.g. rainfall, snow). It was identified that the assumption of continuous rainfall underestimates the residence time and the transport....... The longer residence time predicted for some compounds in the LMT is due to the capacity of clouds to sorb non-volatile molecules in the liquid water and at the interface of cloud droplets. The efficiency of wet deposition to remove low volatile organic pollutants from the atmosphere is limited primarily...

The MOLDY short-range molecular dynamics package

Science.gov (United States)

Ackland, G. J.; D'Mellow, K.; Daraszewicz, S. L.; Hepburn, D. J.; Uhrin, M.; Stratford, K.

2011-12-01

We describe a parallelised version of the MOLDY molecular dynamics program. This Fortran code is aimed at systems which may be described by short-range potentials and specifically those which may be addressed with the embedded atom method. This includes a wide range of transition metals and alloys. MOLDY provides a range of options in terms of the molecular dynamics ensemble used and the boundary conditions which may be applied. A number of standard potentials are provided, and the modular structure of the code allows new potentials to be added easily. The code is parallelised using OpenMP and can therefore be run on shared memory systems, including modern multicore processors. Particular attention is paid to the updates required in the main force loop, where synchronisation is often required in OpenMP implementations of molecular dynamics. We examine the performance of the parallel code in detail and give some examples of applications to realistic problems, including the dynamic compression of copper and carbon migration in an iron-carbon alloy. Program summaryProgram title: MOLDY Catalogue identifier: AEJU_v1_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEJU_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: GNU General Public License version 2 No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 382 881 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 6 705 242 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Fortran 95/OpenMP Computer: Any Operating system: Any Has the code been vectorised or parallelized?: Yes. OpenMP is required for parallel execution RAM: 100 MB or more Classification: 7.7 Nature of problem: Moldy addresses the problem of many atoms (of order 10 6) interacting via a classical interatomic potential on a timescale of microseconds. It is designed for problems where statistics must be gathered over a number of equivalent runs, such as

Smoke Invigoration Versus Inhibition of Clouds over the Amazon

Science.gov (United States)

Koren, Ilan; Martins, J. Vanderlei; Lorraine, A. Remer; Afargan, Hila

2008-01-01

The effect of anthropogenic aerosols on clouds is one of the most important and least understood aspects of human-induced climate change. Small changes in the amount of cloud coverage can produce a climate forcing equivalent in magnitude and opposite in sign to that caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gases, and changes in cloud height can shift the effect of clouds from cooling to warming. Focusing on the Amazon, we show a smooth transition between two opposing effects of aerosols on clouds: the microphysical and the radiative. We show how a feedback between the optical properties of aerosols and the cloud fraction can modify the aerosol forcing, changing the total radiative energy and redistributing it over the atmospheric column.

Genotyping in the cloud with Crossbow.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurtowski, James; Schatz, Michael C; Langmead, Ben

2012-09-01

Crossbow is a scalable, portable, and automatic cloud computing tool for identifying SNPs from high-coverage, short-read resequencing data. It is built on Apache Hadoop, an implementation of the MapReduce software framework. Hadoop allows Crossbow to distribute read alignment and SNP calling subtasks over a cluster of commodity computers. Two robust tools, Bowtie and SOAPsnp, implement the fundamental alignment and variant calling operations respectively, and have demonstrated capabilities within Crossbow of analyzing approximately one billion short reads per hour on a commodity Hadoop cluster with 320 cores. Through protocol examples, this unit will demonstrate the use of Crossbow for identifying variations in three different operating modes: on a Hadoop cluster, on a single computer, and on the Amazon Elastic MapReduce cloud computing service.

Kernel optimization for short-range molecular dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Changjun; Wang, Xianmeng; Li, Jianjiang; He, Xinfu; Li, Shigang; Feng, Yangde; Yang, Shaofeng; Bai, He

2017-02-01

To optimize short-range force computations in Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations, multi-threading and SIMD optimizations are presented in this paper. With respect to multi-threading optimization, a Partition-and-Separate-Calculation (PSC) method is designed to avoid write conflicts caused by using Newton's third law. Serial bottlenecks are eliminated with no additional memory usage. The method is implemented by using the OpenMP model. Furthermore, the PSC method is employed on Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors in both native and offload models. We also evaluate the performance of the PSC method under different thread affinities on the MIC architecture. In the SIMD execution, we explain the performance influence in the PSC method, considering the "if-clause" of the cutoff radius check. The experiment results show that our PSC method is relatively more efficient compared to some traditional methods. In double precision, our 256-bit SIMD implementation is about 3 times faster than the scalar version.

Selective cooling on land supports cloud formation by cosmic ray during geomagnetic reversals

Science.gov (United States)

Kitaba, I.; Hyodo, M.; Nakagawa, T.; Katoh, S.; Dettman, D. L.; Sato, H.

2017-12-01

On geological time scales, the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) flux at the Earth's surface has increased significantly during many short time intervals. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that climatic cooling occurred during these episodes. Cloud formation by GCR has been claimed as the most likely cause of the linkage. However, the mechanism is not fully understood due to the difficulty of accurately estimating the amount of cloud cover in the geologic past. Our study focused on the geomagnetic field and climate in East Asia. The Earth's magnetic field provides a shield against GCR. The East Asian climate reflects the temperature balance between the Eurasian landmass and the Pacific Ocean that drives monsoon circulation.Two geomagnetic polarity reversals occurred at 780 ka and 1,070 ka. At these times the geomagnetic field decreased to about 10% of its present level causing a near doubling of the GCR flux. Temperature and rainfall amounts during these episodes were reconstructed using pollen in sediment cores from Osaka Bay, Japan. The results show a more significant temperature drop on the Eurasian continent than over the Pacific, and a decrease of summer rainfall in East Asia (i.e. a weakening of East Asian summer monsoon). These observed climate changes can be accounted for if the landmasses were more strongly cooled than the oceans. The simplest mechanism behind such asymmetric cooling is the so-called `umbrella effect' (increased cloud cover blocking solar radiation) that induces greater cooling of objects with smaller heat capacities.

Clouds in the Martian Atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Määttänen, Anni; Montmessin, Franck

2018-01-01

Although resembling an extremely dry desert, planet Mars hosts clouds in its atmosphere. Every day somewhere on the planet a part of the tiny amount of water vapor held by the atmosphere can condense as ice crystals to form cirrus-type clouds. The existence of water ice clouds has been known for a long time, and they have been studied for decades, leading to the establishment of a well-known climatology and understanding of their formation and properties. Despite their thinness, they have a clear impact on the atmospheric temperatures, thus affecting the Martian climate. Another, more exotic type of clouds forms as well on Mars. The atmospheric temperatures can plunge to such frigid values that the major gaseous component of the atmosphere, CO2, condenses as ice crystals. These clouds form in the cold polar night where they also contribute to the formation of the CO2 ice polar cap, and also in the mesosphere at very high altitudes, near the edge of space, analogously to the noctilucent clouds on Earth. The mesospheric clouds are a fairly recent discovery and have put our understanding of the Martian atmosphere to a test. On Mars, cloud crystals form on ice nuclei, mostly provided by the omnipresent dust. Thus, the clouds link the three major climatic cycles: those of the two major volatiles, H2O and CO2; and that of dust, which is a major climatic agent itself.

Unidata cyberinfrastructure in the cloud: A progress report

Science.gov (United States)

Ramamurthy, Mohan

2016-04-01

Data services, software, and committed support are critical components of geosciences cyber-infrastructure that can help scientists address problems of unprecedented complexity, scale, and scope. Unidata is currently working on innovative ideas, new paradigms, and novel techniques to complement and extend its offerings. Our goal is to empower users so that they can tackle major, heretofore difficult problems. Unidata recognizes that its products and services must evolve to support new approaches to research and education. After years of hype and ambiguity, cloud computing is maturing in usability in many areas of science and education, bringing the benefits of virtualized and elastic remote services to infrastructure, software, computation, and data. Cloud environments reduce the amount of time and money spent to procure, install, and maintain new hardware and software, and reduce costs through resource pooling and shared infrastructure. Cloud services aimed at providing any resource, at any time, from any place, using any device are increasingly being embraced by all types of organizations. Given this trend and the enormous potential of cloud-based services, Unidata is moving to augment its products, services, data delivery mechanisms and applications to align with the cloud-computing paradigm. To realize the above vision, Unidata is working toward: * Providing access to many types of data from a cloud (e.g., TDS, RAMADDA and EDEX); * Deploying data-proximate tools to easily process, analyze and visualize those data in a cloud environment cloud for consumption by any one, by any device, from anywhere, at any time; * Developing and providing a range of pre-configured and well-integrated tools and services that can be deployed by any university in their own private or public cloud settings. Specifically, Unidata has developed Docker for "containerized applications", making them easy to deploy. Docker helps to create "disposable" installs and eliminates many

Cloud detection method for Chinese moderate high resolution satellite imagery (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Bo; Chen, Wuhan; Wu, Shanlong; Liu, Qinhuo

2016-10-01

Cloud detection of satellite imagery is very important for quantitative remote sensing research and remote sensing applications. However, many satellite sensors don't have enough bands for a quick, accurate, and simple detection of clouds. Particularly, the newly launched moderate to high spatial resolution satellite sensors of China, such as the charge-coupled device on-board the Chinese Huan Jing 1 (HJ-1/CCD) and the wide field of view (WFV) sensor on-board the Gao Fen 1 (GF-1), only have four available bands including blue, green, red, and near infrared bands, which are far from the requirements of most could detection methods. In order to solve this problem, an improved and automated cloud detection method for Chinese satellite sensors called OCM (Object oriented Cloud and cloud-shadow Matching method) is presented in this paper. It firstly modified the Automatic Cloud Cover Assessment (ACCA) method, which was developed for Landsat-7 data, to get an initial cloud map. The modified ACCA method is mainly based on threshold and different threshold setting produces different cloud map. Subsequently, a strict threshold is used to produce a cloud map with high confidence and large amount of cloud omission and a loose threshold is used to produce a cloud map with low confidence and large amount of commission. Secondly, a corresponding cloud-shadow map is also produced using the threshold of near-infrared band. Thirdly, the cloud maps and cloud-shadow map are transferred to cloud objects and cloud-shadow objects. Cloud and cloud-shadow are usually in pairs; consequently, the final cloud and cloud-shadow maps are made based on the relationship between cloud and cloud-shadow objects. OCM method was tested using almost 200 HJ-1/CCD images across China and the overall accuracy of cloud detection is close to 90%.

Decreased long- and short-range functional connectivity at rest in drug-naive major depressive disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Wenbin; Liu, Feng; Chen, Jindong; Wu, Renrong; Zhang, Zhikun; Yu, Miaoyu; Xue, Zhimin; Zhao, Jingping

2016-08-01

Abnormal functional connectivity has been observed in major depressive disorder. Anatomical distance may affect functional connectivity in patients with major depressive disorder. However, whether and how anatomical distance affects functional connectivity at rest remains unclear in drug-naive patients with major depressive disorder. Forty-four patients with major depressive disorder, as well as 44 age-, sex- and education-matched healthy controls, underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Regional functional connectivity strength was calculated for each voxel in the whole brain, which was further divided into short- and long-range functional connectivity strength. The patients showed decreased long-range positive functional connectivity strength in the right inferior parietal lobule, as well as decreased short-range positive functional connectivity strength in the right insula and right superior temporal gyrus relative to those of the controls. No significant correlations existed between abnormal functional connectivity strength and the clinical variables of the patients. The findings revealed that anatomical distance decreases long- and short-range functional connectivity strength in patients with major depressive disorder, which may underlie the neurobiology of major depressive disorder. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Making and Breaking Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-10-01

they create. But to match with observations, this wouldsuggest that molecular clouds are short-lived objects that are built (and therefore replenished) just as quickly as they are destroyed. Is this possible?Speedy Building?In a recent study, a team of scientists led by Mordecai-Mark Mac Low (American Museum of Natural History and Heidelberg University, Germany) explore whether there is a way to create molecular clouds rapidly enough to match the necessary rate of destruction.Mac Low and collaborators find that some common mechanisms used to explain the formation of molecular clouds like gas being swept up by supernovae cant quite operate quickly enough to combat the rate of cloud destruction. On the other hand, the Toomre gravitational instability,which is a large-scale gravitational instability that occurs in gas disks,can very rapidly assemble gas into clumps dense enough to form molecules.A composite of visible and near-infrared images from the VLT ANTU telescope of the Barnard 68 molecular cloud, roughly half a light-year in diameter. [ESO]A Rapid CycleBased on their findings, the authors argue that dense, star-forming molecular clouds persist only for a short time before collapsing into stars and then being blown apart by stellar feedback but these very clouds are built equally quickly via gravitational instabilities.Conveniently, this model has a very testable prediction: the Toomre instability is expected to become even stronger at higher redshift, which suggests that the fraction of gas in the form of molecules should increase at high redshifts. This appears to agree with observations, supporting the authors picture of a rapid cycle of cloud assembly and destruction.CitationMordecai-Mark Mac Low et al 2017 ApJL 847 L10. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aa8a61

Structure of the short-range atomic order of WO3 amorphous films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olevskij, S.S.; Sergeev, M.S.; Tolstikhina, A.L.; Avilov, A.S.; Shkornyakov, S.M.; Semiletov, S.A.

1984-01-01

To study the causes of electrochromism manifestation in thin tungsten oxide films, the structure of WO 3 amorphous films has been investigated. The films were obtained by three different methods: by W(CO) 6 tungsten carbonyl pyrolysis, by high-frequency ion-plasma sputtering of a target prepared by WO 3 powder sintering, and by WO 3 powder thermal evaporation. Monocrystalline wafers of silicon and sodium chloride were used as substrates. The structure of short-range order in WO 3 amorphous films varies versus, the method of preparation in compliance with the type of polyhedral elements, (WO 6 , WO 5 ) and with the character of their packing (contacts via edges or vertices). Manifestation of electroc ro mism in WO 3 films prepared by varions methods and having different structure of short-range order is supposed to be realized through various mechanisms. One cannot exclude a potential simultaneous effect of the two coloration mechanisms

Encyclopedia of cloud computing

CERN Document Server

Bojanova, Irena

2016-01-01

The Encyclopedia of Cloud Computing provides IT professionals, educators, researchers and students with a compendium of cloud computing knowledge. Authored by a spectrum of subject matter experts in industry and academia, this unique publication, in a single volume, covers a wide range of cloud computing topics, including technological trends and developments, research opportunities, best practices, standards, and cloud adoption. Providing multiple perspectives, it also addresses questions that stakeholders might have in the context of development, operation, management, and use of clouds. Furthermore, it examines cloud computing's impact now and in the future. The encyclopedia presents 56 chapters logically organized into 10 sections. Each chapter covers a major topic/area with cross-references to other chapters and contains tables, illustrations, side-bars as appropriate. Furthermore, each chapter presents its summary at the beginning and backend material, references and additional resources for further i...

Narrowing the Gap in Quantification of Aerosol-Cloud Radiative Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Feingold, G.; McComiskey, A. C.; Yamaguchi, T.; Kazil, J.; Johnson, J. S.; Carslaw, K. S.

2016-12-01

Despite large advances in our understanding of aerosol and cloud processes over the past years, uncertainty in the aerosol-cloud radiative effect/forcing is still of major concern. In this talk we will advocate a methodology for quantifying the aerosol-cloud radiative effect that considers the primacy of fundamental cloud properties such as cloud amount and albedo alongside the need for process level understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions. We will present a framework for quantifying the aerosol-cloud radiative effect, regime-by-regime, through process-based modelling and observations at the large eddy scale. We will argue that understanding the co-variability between meteorological and aerosol drivers of the radiative properties of the cloud system may be as important an endeavour as attempting to untangle these drivers.

ARM Cloud-Aerosol-Precipitation Experiment (ACAPEX) Field Campaign Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leung, L Ruby [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2016-03-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility’s ARM Cloud-Aerosol-Precipitation Experiment (ACAPEX) field campaign contributes to CalWater 2015, a multi-agency field campaign that aims to improve understanding of atmospheric rivers and aerosol sources and transport that influence cloud and precipitation processes. The ultimate goal is to reduce uncertainties in weather predictions and climate projections of droughts and floods in California. With the DOE G-1 aircraft and ARM Mobile Facility 2 (AMF2) well equipped for making aerosol and cloud measurements, ACAPEX focuses specifically on understanding how aerosols from local pollution and long-range transport affect the amount and phase of precipitation associated with atmospheric rivers. ACAPEX took place between January 12, 2015 and March 8, 2015 as part of CalWater 2015, which included four aircraft (DOE G-1, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] G-IV and P-3, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA] ER-2), the NOAA research ship Ron Brown, carrying onboard the AMF2, National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored aerosol and precipitation measurements at Bodega Bay, and the California Department of Water Resources extreme precipitation network.

Retrieval of Cloud Properties for Partially Cloud-Filled Pixels During CRYSTAL-FACE

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, L.; Minnis, P.; Smith, W. L.; Khaiyer, M. M.; Heck, P. W.; Sun-Mack, S.; Uttal, T.; Comstock, J.

2003-12-01

Partially cloud-filled pixels can be a significant problem for remote sensing of cloud properties. Generally, the optical depth and effective particle sizes are often too small or too large, respectively, when derived from radiances that are assumed to be overcast but contain radiation from both clear and cloud areas within the satellite imager field of view. This study presents a method for reducing the impact of such partially cloud field pixels by estimating the cloud fraction within each pixel using higher resolution visible (VIS, 0.65mm) imager data. Although the nominal resolution for most channels on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) imager and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra are 4 and 1 km, respectively, both instruments also take VIS channel data at 1 km and 0.25 km, respectively. Thus, it may be possible to obtain an improved estimate of cloud fraction within the lower resolution pixels by using the information contained in the higher resolution VIS data. GOES and MODIS multi-spectral data, taken during the Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers - Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE), are analyzed with the algorithm used for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) and the Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) to derive cloud amount, temperature, height, phase, effective particle size, optical depth, and water path. Normally, the algorithm assumes that each pixel is either entirely clear or cloudy. In this study, a threshold method is applied to the higher resolution VIS data to estimate the partial cloud fraction within each low-resolution pixel. The cloud properties are then derived from the observed low-resolution radiances using the cloud cover estimate to properly extract the radiances due only to the cloudy part of the scene. This approach is applied to both GOES and MODIS data to estimate the improvement in the retrievals for each

Fast cloud parameter retrievals of MIPAS/Envisat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Spang

2012-08-01

and tropospheric clouds similar to that of space- and ground-based lidars, with a tendency for higher cloud top heights and consequently higher sensitivity for some of the MIPAS detection methods. For the high cloud amount (HCA, pressure levels below 440 hPa on global scales the sensitivity of MIPAS is significantly greater than that of passive nadir viewers. This means that the high cloud fraction will be underestimated in the ISCCP dataset compared to the amount of high clouds deduced by MIPAS. Good correspondence in seasonal variability and geographical distribution of cloud occurrence and zonal means of cloud top height is found in a detailed comparison with a climatology for subvisible cirrus clouds from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II limb sounder. Overall, validation with various sensors shows the need to consider differences in sensitivity, and especially the viewing geometries and field-of-view size, to make the datasets comparable (e.g. applying integration along the limb path through nadir cloud fields. The simulation of the limb path integration will be an important issue for comparisons with cloud-resolving global circulation or chemical transport models.

A Diagnostic PDF Cloud Scheme to Improve Subtropical Low Clouds in NCAR Community Atmosphere Model (CAM5)

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Yi; Lin, Yanluan; Xu, Shiming; Ma, Hsi-Yen; Xie, Shaocheng

2018-02-01

Low clouds strongly impact the radiation budget of the climate system, but their simulation in most GCMs has remained a challenge, especially over the subtropical stratocumulus region. Assuming a Gaussian distribution for the subgrid-scale total water and liquid water potential temperature, a new statistical cloud scheme is proposed and tested in NCAR Community Atmospheric Model version 5 (CAM5). The subgrid-scale variance is diagnosed from the turbulent and shallow convective processes in CAM5. The approach is able to maintain the consistency between cloud fraction and cloud condensate and thus alleviates the adjustment needed in the default relative humidity-based cloud fraction scheme. Short-term forecast simulations indicate that low cloud fraction and liquid water content, including their diurnal cycle, are improved due to a proper consideration of subgrid-scale variance over the southeastern Pacific Ocean region. Compared with the default cloud scheme, the new approach produced the mean climate reasonably well with improved shortwave cloud forcing (SWCF) due to more reasonable low cloud fraction and liquid water path over regions with predominant low clouds. Meanwhile, the SWCF bias over the tropical land regions is also alleviated. Furthermore, the simulated marine boundary layer clouds with the new approach extend further offshore and agree better with observations. The new approach is able to obtain the top of atmosphere (TOA) radiation balance with a slightly alleviated double ITCZ problem in preliminary coupled simulations. This study implies that a close coupling of cloud processes with other subgrid-scale physical processes is a promising approach to improve cloud simulations.

Polyamorphism and substructure of short-range order in amorphous boron films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palatnik, L.S.; Nechitajlo, A.A.; Koz'ma, A.A.

1981-01-01

The structure and substructure of boron amorphous films are studied in detail. Amorphous condensate of Bsup(a) boron is built of the same (but only disorientedly located) 12 B icosahedrons as boron crystalline modifications: B 105 -equilibrium β-rhombic, metastable: B 50 -tetragonal, B 12 -α-rhombohedral Coordination number for Bsup(a) (Z 1 =6.4) is lower than in B 105 (Z 1 =6.6) but higher than in B 50 modification (Z 1 =6.1). In crystalline modifications B 105 , B 50 , B 12 coordination numbers ω in first coordination spheres of icosahedrons are equal to ν 105 =6+4.6=10.6; ν 50 =10+3=14; ν 12 =6 respectively. Both amorphous modifications of boron Bsub(1)sup(a) and Bsub(15)sup(a) are analogs to B 50 in respect of the short-range order of icosahedron location. The difference between them is in ''substructure'' of short-range order: part of boron atoms (approximately 12%) do not occupy the vertices (so that vacancies appear) and enter the emptinesses between icosahedrons. In other words, the structure B 50 is the model basis of both amorphous phases [ru

Hailstones: a window into the microbial and chemical inventory of a storm cloud.

Science.gov (United States)

Šantl-Temkiv, Tina; Finster, Kai; Dittmar, Thorsten; Hansen, Bjarne Munk; Thyrhaug, Runar; Nielsen, Niels Woetmann; Karlson, Ulrich Gosewinkel

2013-01-01

Storm clouds frequently form in the summer period in temperate climate zones. Studies on these inaccessible and short-lived atmospheric habitats have been scarce. We report here on the first comprehensive biogeochemical investigation of a storm cloud using hailstones as a natural stochastic sampling tool. A detailed molecular analysis of the dissolved organic matter in individual hailstones via ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry revealed the molecular formulae of almost 3000 different compounds. Only a small fraction of these compounds were rapidly biodegradable carbohydrates and lipids, suitable for microbial consumption during the lifetime of cloud droplets. However, as the cloud environment was characterized by a low bacterial density (Me = 1973 cells/ml) as well as high concentrations of both dissolved organic carbon (Me = 179 µM) and total dissolved nitrogen (Me = 30 µM), already trace amounts of easily degradable organic compounds suffice to support bacterial growth. The molecular fingerprints revealed a mainly soil origin of dissolved organic matter and a minor contribution of plant-surface compounds. In contrast, both the total and the cultivable bacterial community were skewed by bacterial groups (γ-Proteobacteria, Sphingobacteriales and Methylobacterium) that indicated the dominance of plant-surface bacteria. The enrichment of plant-associated bacterial groups points at a selection process of microbial genera in the course of cloud formation, which could affect the long-distance transport and spatial distribution of bacteria on Earth. Based on our results we hypothesize that plant-associated bacteria were more likely than soil bacteria (i) to survive the airborne state due to adaptations to life in the phyllosphere, which in many respects matches the demands encountered in the atmosphere and (ii) to grow on the suitable fraction of dissolved organic matter in clouds due to their ecological strategy. We conclude that storm clouds are

The Role of African Dust Particles on Cloud Chemistry and Microphysics in a Tropical Montane Cloud Forest in the Caribbean

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Delgado, E.; Valle-Diaz, C. J.; Baumgardner, D.; McDowell, W. H.; Gonzalez, G.; Mayol-Bracero, O. L.

2015-12-01

Huge amounts of African dust travels thousands of kilometers from the Sahara and Sahel regions to the Caribbean, northern South America and southern North America. However, not much is understood about how the aging process that takes place during transport changes dust properties, and how it affects cloud's composition and microphysics. In order to improve our understanding of the role of long-range transported African dust (LRTAD) in cloud formation processes we had field campaigns measuring dust physical and chemical properties in summers of 2013, 2014 and 2015, as part of the Puerto Rico African Dust and Cloud Study (PRADACS), and of the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory (LCZO). Measurements were performed at the tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF) of Pico del Este (PE, 1051 masl) and at the nature reserve of Cabezas de San Juan (CSJ, 60 masl). In both ground stations we monitored meteorological parameters (e.g., temperature, wind speed, wind direction). At CSJ, we measured light absorption and scattering at three wavelengths (467, 528 and 652 nm). At PE we collected cloud and rainwater for chemical analyses and monitored cloud microphysical properties (e.g., liquid water content, droplet size distribution, droplet number concentration, effective diameter and median volume diameter). Summer 2015 was the first attempt to characterize microphysical properties of the summer period (June to August) at PE, where dust is in its higher concentrations of the year. Samples were classified using data from models and satellites together with CSJ measurements as low or high dust influenced. Soluble ions, insoluble trace metals, pH, conductivity, total and dissolved organic carbon and total and dissolved nitrogen were measured for cloud and rainwater. Enrichment factor analysis was used to determine sea and crustal contribution of species by sample, as well as the neutralization factor and fractional acidity. Some preliminary results show cloud water conductivity for low

Comparison of the Tritium permeated from ITER Blanket in normal operation and its short range impact of HT over France, Swiss or Spain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castro, P.; Velarde, M.; Ardao, J.; Perlado, J.; Sedano, L.; Xiberta, J.

2015-07-01

In this paper we assumes the hydrogen isotopes permeation from a liquid metal ITER breeder blanket (assuming normal operation and a LM as DCLL or HCLL blanket) as one of the possible sources of a leak and tritium release,mainly but not only. The paper presents a short range low impact of HT gas activity over France, Swiss or Spain from same cases in 2014 and 2015 releases from ITER. The permeation of hydrogen isotopes is an important experimental issue to take into account into the development of a Tritium Breeder Module for ITER [1]. Tritium cannot be confined -without an uncertainty of 5% in the flux permeation- and therefore HT can be detected (e.g. by ionization chamber) as permeates though the structure of RAFM steel towards the coolant [1]. HT from Pb15.7Li and permeated in Eurofer97 can contaminate the other parts of the system and may be delivered though the normal-vent detritiation system (NVDS). Real time forecast of transport of tritium in air from the fusion reactor towards off-site far downwind though extended tritium clouds into the low levels of the atmosphere is calculated for the short range (up to 24 hours) by the coupling of 2 models the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) [2] model and the FLEXPART lagrangian dispersion model [3] verified with NORMTRI simulation [4] and implemented in many different cases and scenarios [5, 6, 7]. As a function of daily weather conditions the release will affect just France or already can be delivered towards Swiss when cyclonic circulation, or towards the Iberian Peninsula or Balearic Islands (Spain) when high produce anticyclonic circulation of the air over the Mediterranean Sea. (Author)

A multi-year data set on aerosol-cloud-precipitation-meteorology interactions for marine stratocumulus clouds.

Science.gov (United States)

Sorooshian, Armin; MacDonald, Alexander B; Dadashazar, Hossein; Bates, Kelvin H; Coggon, Matthew M; Craven, Jill S; Crosbie, Ewan; Hersey, Scott P; Hodas, Natasha; Lin, Jack J; Negrón Marty, Arnaldo; Maudlin, Lindsay C; Metcalf, Andrew R; Murphy, Shane M; Padró, Luz T; Prabhakar, Gouri; Rissman, Tracey A; Shingler, Taylor; Varutbangkul, Varuntida; Wang, Zhen; Woods, Roy K; Chuang, Patrick Y; Nenes, Athanasios; Jonsson, Haflidi H; Flagan, Richard C; Seinfeld, John H

2018-02-27

Airborne measurements of meteorological, aerosol, and stratocumulus cloud properties have been harmonized from six field campaigns during July-August months between 2005 and 2016 off the California coast. A consistent set of core instruments was deployed on the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies Twin Otter for 113 flight days, amounting to 514 flight hours. A unique aspect of the compiled data set is detailed measurements of aerosol microphysical properties (size distribution, composition, bioaerosol detection, hygroscopicity, optical), cloud water composition, and different sampling inlets to distinguish between clear air aerosol, interstitial in-cloud aerosol, and droplet residual particles in cloud. Measurements and data analysis follow documented methods for quality assurance. The data set is suitable for studies associated with aerosol-cloud-precipitation-meteorology-radiation interactions, especially owing to sharp aerosol perturbations from ship traffic and biomass burning. The data set can be used for model initialization and synergistic application with meteorological models and remote sensing data to improve understanding of the very interactions that comprise the largest uncertainty in the effect of anthropogenic emissions on radiative forcing.

Formation of massive, dense cores by cloud-cloud collisions

Science.gov (United States)

Takahira, Ken; Shima, Kazuhiro; Habe, Asao; Tasker, Elizabeth J.

2018-05-01

We performed sub-parsec (˜ 0.014 pc) scale simulations of cloud-cloud collisions of two idealized turbulent molecular clouds (MCs) with different masses in the range of (0.76-2.67) × 104 M_{⊙} and with collision speeds of 5-30 km s-1. Those parameters are larger than in Takahira, Tasker, and Habe (2014, ApJ, 792, 63), in which study the colliding system showed a partial gaseous arc morphology that supports the NANTEN observations of objects indicated to be colliding MCs using numerical simulations. Gas clumps with density greater than 10-20 g cm-3 were identified as pre-stellar cores and tracked through the simulation to investigate the effects of the mass of colliding clouds and the collision speeds on the resulting core population. Our results demonstrate that the smaller cloud property is more important for the results of cloud-cloud collisions. The mass function of formed cores can be approximated by a power-law relation with an index γ = -1.6 in slower cloud-cloud collisions (v ˜ 5 km s-1), and is in good agreement with observation of MCs. A faster relative speed increases the number of cores formed in the early stage of collisions and shortens the gas accretion phase of cores in the shocked region, leading to the suppression of core growth. The bending point appears in the high-mass part of the core mass function and the bending point mass decreases with increase in collision speed for the same combination of colliding clouds. The higher-mass part of the core mass function than the bending point mass can be approximated by a power law with γ = -2-3 that is similar to the power index of the massive part of the observed stellar initial mass function. We discuss implications of our results for the massive-star formation in our Galaxy.

THE GLOBAL EVOLUTION OF GIANT MOLECULAR CLOUDS. II. THE ROLE OF ACCRETION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldbaum, Nathan J.; Krumholz, Mark R.; Matzner, Christopher D.; McKee, Christopher F.

2011-01-01

We present virial models for the global evolution of giant molecular clouds (GMCs). Focusing on the presence of an accretion flow and accounting for the amount of mass, momentum, and energy supplied by accretion and star formation feedback, we are able to follow the growth, evolution, and dispersal of individual GMCs. Our model clouds reproduce the scaling relations observed in both galactic and extragalactic clouds. We find that accretion and star formation contribute roughly equal amounts of turbulent kinetic energy over the lifetime of the cloud. Clouds attain virial equilibrium and grow in such a way as to maintain roughly constant surface densities, with typical surface densities of order 50-200 M sun pc -2 , in good agreement with observations of GMCs in the Milky Way and nearby external galaxies. We find that as clouds grow, their velocity dispersion and radius must also increase, implying that the linewidth-size relation constitutes an age sequence. Lastly, we compare our models to observations of GMCs and associated young star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud and find good agreement between our model clouds and the observed relationship between H II regions, young star clusters, and GMCs.

Buildings and Terrain of Urban Area Point Cloud Segmentation based on PCL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Ying; Zhong, Ruofei

2014-01-01

One current problem with laser radar point data classification is building and urban terrain segmentation, this paper proposes a point cloud segmentation method base on PCL libraries. PCL is a large cross-platform open source C++ programming library, which implements a large number of point cloud related efficient data structures and generic algorithms involving point cloud retrieval, filtering, segmentation, registration, feature extraction and curved surface reconstruction, visualization, etc. Due to laser radar point cloud characteristics with large amount of data, unsymmetrical distribution, this paper proposes using the data structure of kd-tree to organize data; then using Voxel Grid filter for point cloud resampling, namely to reduce the amount of point cloud data, and at the same time keep the point cloud shape characteristic; use PCL Segmentation Module, we use a Euclidean Cluster Extraction class with Europe clustering for buildings and ground three-dimensional point cloud segmentation. The experimental results show that this method avoids the multiple copy system existing data needs, saves the program storage space through the call of PCL library method and class, shortens the program compiled time and improves the running speed of the program

Distributed MRI reconstruction using Gadgetron-based cloud computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Hui; Inati, Souheil; Sørensen, Thomas Sangild; Kellman, Peter; Hansen, Michael S

2015-03-01

To expand the open source Gadgetron reconstruction framework to support distributed computing and to demonstrate that a multinode version of the Gadgetron can be used to provide nonlinear reconstruction with clinically acceptable latency. The Gadgetron framework was extended with new software components that enable an arbitrary number of Gadgetron instances to collaborate on a reconstruction task. This cloud-enabled version of the Gadgetron was deployed on three different distributed computing platforms ranging from a heterogeneous collection of commodity computers to the commercial Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud. The Gadgetron cloud was used to provide nonlinear, compressed sensing reconstruction on a clinical scanner with low reconstruction latency (eg, cardiac and neuroimaging applications). The proposed setup was able to handle acquisition and 11 -SPIRiT reconstruction of nine high temporal resolution real-time, cardiac short axis cine acquisitions, covering the ventricles for functional evaluation, in under 1 min. A three-dimensional high-resolution brain acquisition with 1 mm(3) isotropic pixel size was acquired and reconstructed with nonlinear reconstruction in less than 5 min. A distributed computing enabled Gadgetron provides a scalable way to improve reconstruction performance using commodity cluster computing. Nonlinear, compressed sensing reconstruction can be deployed clinically with low image reconstruction latency. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Short range order in FeCo-X alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fultz, B.

1988-01-01

Moessbauer spectrometry was used to study the kinetics of chemical ordering in FeCo and in FeCo alloyed with ternary solutes. With respect to the binary FeCo alloy, the kinetics of B2 ordering were slowed when 2% of 4d- or 5d-series ternary solute atoms were present, but 3p- and 3d-series ternary solutes had little effect on ordering kinetics. The relaxation of order around the ternary solute atoms could be discerned in Moessbauer spectra, and it seems that the development of B2 short range order is influenced by structural relaxations around the ternary solute atoms. Different thermal treatments were shown to cause different relaxations of and correlations, suggesting that Moessbauer spectrometry can be used to identify different kinetic paths of ordering in ternary alloys. (orig.)

Extended-range prediction trials using the global cloud/cloud-system resolving model NICAM and its new ocean-coupled version NICOCO

Science.gov (United States)

Miyakawa, Tomoki

2017-04-01

The global cloud/cloud-system resolving model NICAM and its new fully-coupled version NICOCO is run on one of the worlds top-tier supercomputers, the K computer. NICOCO couples the full-3D ocean component COCO of the general circulation model MIROC using a general-purpose coupler Jcup. We carried out multiple MJO simulations using NICAM and the new ocean-coupled version NICOCO to examine their extended-range MJO prediction skills and the impact of ocean coupling. NICAM performs excellently in terms of MJO prediction, maintaining a valid skill up to 27 days after the model is initialized (Miyakawa et al 2014). As is the case in most global models, ocean coupling frees the model from being anchored by the observed SST and allows the model climate to drift away further from reality compared to the atmospheric version of the model. Thus, it is important to evaluate the model bias, and in an initial value problem such as the seasonal extended-range prediction, it is essential to be able to distinguish the actual signal from the early transition of the model from the observed state to its own climatology. Since NICAM is a highly resource-demanding model, evaluation and tuning of the model climatology (order of years) is challenging. Here we focus on the initial 100 days to estimate the early drift of the model, and subsequently evaluate MJO prediction skills of NICOCO. Results show that in the initial 100 days, NICOCO forms a La-Nina like SST bias compared to observation, with a warmer Maritime Continent warm pool and a cooler equatorial central Pacific. The enhanced convection over the Maritime Continent associated with this bias project on to the real-time multi-variate MJO indices (RMM, Wheeler and Hendon 2004), and contaminates the MJO skill score. However, the bias does not appear to demolish the MJO signal severely. The model maintains a valid MJO prediction skill up to nearly 4 weeks when evaluated after linearly removing the early drift component estimated from

Fluid–fluid coexistence in colloidal systems with short-ranged strongly directional attraction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kern, N.; Frenkel, D.

2003-01-01

We present a systematic numerical study of the phase behavior of square-well fluids with a "patchy" short-ranged attraction. In particular, we study the effect of the size and number of attractive patches on the fluid–fluid coexistence. The model that we use is a generalization of the hard sphere

Ozone mixing ratios inside tropical deep convective clouds from OMI satellite measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. R. Ziemke

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We have developed a new technique for estimating ozone mixing ratio inside deep convective clouds. The technique uses the concept of an optical centroid cloud pressure that is indicative of the photon path inside clouds. Radiative transfer calculations based on realistic cloud vertical structure as provided by CloudSat radar data show that because deep convective clouds are optically thin near the top, photons can penetrate significantly inside the cloud. This photon penetration coupled with in-cloud scattering produces optical centroid pressures that are hundreds of hPa inside the cloud. We combine measured column ozone and the optical centroid cloud pressure derived using the effects of rotational-Raman scattering to estimate O₃ mixing ratio in the upper regions of deep convective clouds. The data are obtained from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI onboard NASA's Aura satellite. Our results show that low O₃ concentrations in these clouds are a common occurrence throughout much of the tropical Pacific. Ozonesonde measurements in the tropics following convective activity also show very low concentrations of O₃ in the upper troposphere. These low amounts are attributed to vertical injection of ozone poor oceanic boundary layer air during convection into the upper troposphere followed by convective outflow. Over South America and Africa, O₃ mixing ratios inside deep convective clouds often exceed 50 ppbv which are comparable to mean background (cloud-free amounts and are consistent with higher concentrations of injected boundary layer/lower tropospheric O₃ relative to the remote Pacific. The Atlantic region in general also consists of higher amounts of O₃ precursors due to both biomass burning and lightning. Assuming that O₃ is well mixed (i.e., constant mixing ratio with height up to the tropopause, we can estimate the stratospheric column O₃ over

Science in the cloud (SIC): A use case in MRI connectomics

Science.gov (United States)

Gorgolewski, Krzysztof J.; Kleissas, Dean; Roncal, William Gray; Litt, Brian; Wandell, Brian; Poldrack, Russel A.; Wiener, Martin; Vogelstein, R. Jacob; Burns, Randal

2017-01-01

Abstract Modern technologies are enabling scientists to collect extraordinary amounts of complex and sophisticated data across a huge range of scales like never before. With this onslaught of data, we can allow the focal point to shift from data collection to data analysis. Unfortunately, lack of standardized sharing mechanisms and practices often make reproducing or extending scientific results very difficult. With the creation of data organization structures and tools that drastically improve code portability, we now have the opportunity to design such a framework for communicating extensible scientific discoveries. Our proposed solution leverages these existing technologies and standards, and provides an accessible and extensible model for reproducible research, called ‘science in the cloud’ (SIC). Exploiting scientific containers, cloud computing, and cloud data services, we show the capability to compute in the cloud and run a web service that enables intimate interaction with the tools and data presented. We hope this model will inspire the community to produce reproducible and, importantly, extensible results that will enable us to collectively accelerate the rate at which scientific breakthroughs are discovered, replicated, and extended. PMID:28327935

Environmental conditions regulate the impact of plants on cloud formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, D F; Buchholz, A; Tillmann, R; Kleist, E; Wu, C; Rubach, F; Kiendler-Scharr, A; Rudich, Y; Wildt, J; Mentel, Th F

2017-02-20

The terrestrial vegetation emits large amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOC) into the atmosphere, which on oxidation produce secondary organic aerosol (SOA). By acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), SOA influences cloud formation and climate. In a warming climate, changes in environmental factors can cause stresses to plants, inducing changes of the emitted VOC. These can modify particle size and composition. Here we report how induced emissions eventually affect CCN activity of SOA, a key parameter in cloud formation. For boreal forest tree species, insect infestation by aphids causes additional VOC emissions which modifies SOA composition thus hygroscopicity and CCN activity. Moderate heat increases the total amount of constitutive VOC, which has a minor effect on hygroscopicity, but affects CCN activity by increasing the particles' size. The coupling of plant stresses, VOC composition and CCN activity points to an important impact of induced plant emissions on cloud formation and climate.

Towards highest peak intensities for ultra-short MeV-range ion bunches

OpenAIRE

Simon Busold; Dennis Schumacher; Christian Brabetz; Diana Jahn; Florian Kroll; Oliver Deppert; Ulrich Schramm; Thomas E. Cowan; Abel Blažević; Vincent Bagnoud; Markus Roth

2015-01-01

A laser-driven, multi-MeV-range ion beamline has been installed at the GSI Helmholtz center for heavy ion research. The high-power laser PHELIX drives the very short (picosecond) ion acceleration on ?m scale, with energies ranging up to 28.4?MeV for protons in a continuous spectrum. The necessary beam shaping behind the source is accomplished by applying magnetic ion lenses like solenoids and quadrupoles and a radiofrequency cavity. Based on the unique beam properties from the laser-driven so...

Effects of turbulence on warm clouds and precipitation with various aerosol concentrations

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyunho; Baik, Jong-Jin; Han, Ji-Young

2015-02-01

This study investigates the effects of turbulence-induced collision enhancement (TICE) on warm clouds and precipitation by changing the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentration using a two-dimensional dynamic model with bin microphysics. TICE is determined according to the Taylor microscale Reynolds number and the turbulent dissipation rate. The thermodynamic sounding used in this study is characterized by a warm and humid atmosphere with a capping inversion layer, which is suitable for simulating warm clouds. For all CCN concentrations, TICE slightly reduces the liquid water path during the early stage of cloud development and accelerates the onset of surface precipitation. However, changes in the rainwater path and in the amount of surface precipitation that are caused by TICE depend on the CCN concentrations. For high CCN concentrations, the mean cloud drop number concentration (CDNC) decreases and the mean effective radius increases due to TICE. These changes cause an increase in the amount of surface precipitation. However, for low CCN concentrations, changes in the mean CDNC and in the mean effective radius induced by TICE are small and the amount of surface precipitation decreases slightly due to TICE. A decrease in condensation due to the accelerated coalescence between droplets explains the surface precipitation decrease. In addition, an increase in the CCN concentration can lead to an increase in the amount of surface precipitation, and the relationship between the CCN concentration and the amount of surface precipitation is affected by TICE. It is shown that these results depend on the atmospheric relative humidity.

Short-range spatial variability of soil δ15N natural abundance – effects on symbiotic N2-fixation estimates in pea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holdensen, Lars; Hauggaard-Nielsen, Henrik; Jensen, Erik Steen

2007-01-01

abundance in spring barley and N2-fixing pea was measured within the 0.15-4 m scale at flowering and at maturity. The short-range spatial variability of soil δ15N natural abundance and symbiotic nitrogen fixation were high at both growth stages. Along a 4-m row, the δ15N natural abundance in barley......-abundance are that estimates of symbiotic N2-fixation can be obtained from the natural abundance method if at least half a square meter of crop and reference plants is sampled for the isotopic analysis. In fields with small amounts of representative reference crops (weeds) it might be necessary to sow in reference crop...

Towards highest peak intensities for ultra-short MeV-range ion bunches

Science.gov (United States)

Busold, Simon; Schumacher, Dennis; Brabetz, Christian; Jahn, Diana; Kroll, Florian; Deppert, Oliver; Schramm, Ulrich; Cowan, Thomas E.; Blažević, Abel; Bagnoud, Vincent; Roth, Markus

2015-01-01

A laser-driven, multi-MeV-range ion beamline has been installed at the GSI Helmholtz center for heavy ion research. The high-power laser PHELIX drives the very short (picosecond) ion acceleration on μm scale, with energies ranging up to 28.4 MeV for protons in a continuous spectrum. The necessary beam shaping behind the source is accomplished by applying magnetic ion lenses like solenoids and quadrupoles and a radiofrequency cavity. Based on the unique beam properties from the laser-driven source, high-current single bunches could be produced and characterized in a recent experiment: At a central energy of 7.8 MeV, up to 5 × 108 protons could be re-focused in time to a FWHM bunch length of τ = (462 ± 40) ps via phase focusing. The bunches show a moderate energy spread between 10% and 15% (ΔE/E0 at FWHM) and are available at 6 m distance to the source und thus separated from the harsh laser-matter interaction environment. These successful experiments represent the basis for developing novel laser-driven ion beamlines and accessing highest peak intensities for ultra-short MeV-range ion bunches. PMID:26212024

Towards highest peak intensities for ultra-short MeV-range ion bunches

Science.gov (United States)

Busold, Simon; Schumacher, Dennis; Brabetz, Christian; Jahn, Diana; Kroll, Florian; Deppert, Oliver; Schramm, Ulrich; Cowan, Thomas E.; Blažević, Abel; Bagnoud, Vincent; Roth, Markus

2015-07-01

A laser-driven, multi-MeV-range ion beamline has been installed at the GSI Helmholtz center for heavy ion research. The high-power laser PHELIX drives the very short (picosecond) ion acceleration on μm scale, with energies ranging up to 28.4 MeV for protons in a continuous spectrum. The necessary beam shaping behind the source is accomplished by applying magnetic ion lenses like solenoids and quadrupoles and a radiofrequency cavity. Based on the unique beam properties from the laser-driven source, high-current single bunches could be produced and characterized in a recent experiment: At a central energy of 7.8 MeV, up to 5 × 108 protons could be re-focused in time to a FWHM bunch length of τ = (462 ± 40) ps via phase focusing. The bunches show a moderate energy spread between 10% and 15% (ΔE/E0 at FWHM) and are available at 6 m distance to the source und thus separated from the harsh laser-matter interaction environment. These successful experiments represent the basis for developing novel laser-driven ion beamlines and accessing highest peak intensities for ultra-short MeV-range ion bunches.

Leveraging the Cloud for Robust and Efficient Lunar Image Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, George; Malhotra, Shan; Wolgast, Paul

2011-01-01

The Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project (LMMP) is tasked to aggregate lunar data, from the Apollo era to the latest instruments on the LRO spacecraft, into a central repository accessible by scientists and the general public. A critical function of this task is to provide users with the best solution for browsing the vast amounts of imagery available. The image files LMMP manages range from a few gigabytes to hundreds of gigabytes in size with new data arriving every day. Despite this ever-increasing amount of data, LMMP must make the data readily available in a timely manner for users to view and analyze. This is accomplished by tiling large images into smaller images using Hadoop, a distributed computing software platform implementation of the MapReduce framework, running on a small cluster of machines locally. Additionally, the software is implemented to use Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) facility. We also developed a hybrid solution to serve images to users by leveraging cloud storage using Amazon's Simple Storage Service (S3) for public data while keeping private information on our own data servers. By using Cloud Computing, we improve upon our local solution by reducing the need to manage our own hardware and computing infrastructure, thereby reducing costs. Further, by using a hybrid of local and cloud storage, we are able to provide data to our users more efficiently and securely. 12 This paper examines the use of a distributed approach with Hadoop to tile images, an approach that provides significant improvements in image processing time, from hours to minutes. This paper describes the constraints imposed on the solution and the resulting techniques developed for the hybrid solution of a customized Hadoop infrastructure over local and cloud resources in managing this ever-growing data set. It examines the performance trade-offs of using the more plentiful resources of the cloud, such as those provided by S3, against the bandwidth limitations such use

Measurement based scenario analysis of short-range distribution system planning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Peiyuan; Bak-Jensen, Birgitte; Chen, Zhe

2009-01-01

This paper focuses on short-range distribution system planning using a probabilistic approach. Empirical probabilistic distributions of load demand and distributed generations are derived from the historical measurement data and incorporated into the system planning. Simulations with various...... feasible scenarios are performed based on a local distribution system at Støvring in Denmark. Simulation results provide more accurate and insightful information for the decision-maker when using the probabilistic analysis than using the worst-case analysis, so that a better planning can be achieved....

Benefits Management of Cloud Computing Investments

OpenAIRE

Richard Greenwell; Xiaodong Liu; Kevin Chalmers

2014-01-01

This paper examines investments in cloud computing using the Benefits Management approach. The major contribution of the paper is to provide a unique insight into how organizations derive value from cloud computing investments. The motivation for writing this paper is to consider the business benefits generated from utilizing cloud computing in a range of organizations. Case studies are used to describe a number of organizations approaches to benefits exploitation using cloud computing. It wa...

Datacenter Changes vs. Employment Rates for Datacenter Managers In the Cloud Computing Era

OpenAIRE

Mirzoev, Timur; Benson, Bruce; Hillhouse, David; Lewis, Mickey

2014-01-01

Due to the evolving Cloud Computing paradigm, there is a prevailing concern that in the near future data center managers may be in short supply. Cloud computing, as a whole, is becoming more prevalent into today s computing world. In fact, cloud computing has become so popular that some are now referring to data centers as cloud centers. How does this interest in cloud computing translate into employment rates for data center managers? The popularity of the public and private cloud models are...

Cloud Computing and Some Scenarios for its Application in Universities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cigdem Selcukcan Erol

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Cloud computing is a new technology and a new trend. In recent years most of organisations start to choose their cloud models. The educational institutions, especially universities, cannot ignore the huge amount of benefits that cloud computing may bring them. In this paper, we are explaining in details the concept of cloud computing, its models and usage areas, its working principle, its advantages and disadvantages. We specifically focus on its importance for universities by giving examples for its implementation in e-Learning.

Meteorological conditions in the central Arctic summer during the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Tjernström

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Understanding the rapidly changing climate in the Arctic is limited by a lack of understanding of underlying strong feedback mechanisms that are specific to the Arctic. Progress in this field can only be obtained by process-level observations; this is the motivation for intensive ice-breaker-based campaigns such as the Arctic Summer Cloud-Ocean Study (ASCOS, described here. However, detailed field observations also have to be put in the context of the larger-scale meteorology, and short field campaigns have to be analysed within the context of the underlying climate state and temporal anomalies from this.

To aid in the analysis of other parameters or processes observed during this campaign, this paper provides an overview of the synoptic-scale meteorology and its climatic anomaly during the ASCOS field deployment. It also provides a statistical analysis of key features during the campaign, such as key meteorological variables, the vertical structure of the lower troposphere and clouds, and energy fluxes at the surface. In order to assess the representativity of the ASCOS results, we also compare these features to similar observations obtained during three earlier summer experiments in the Arctic Ocean: the AOE-96, SHEBA and AOE-2001 expeditions.

We find that these expeditions share many key features of the summertime lower troposphere. Taking ASCOS and the previous expeditions together, a common picture emerges with a large amount of low-level cloud in a well-mixed shallow boundary layer, capped by a weak to moderately strong inversion where moisture, and sometimes also cloud top, penetrate into the lower parts of the inversion. Much of the boundary-layer mixing is due to cloud-top cooling and subsequent buoyant overturning of the cloud. The cloud layer may, or may not, be connected with surface processes depending on the depths of the cloud and surface-based boundary layers and on the relative strengths of surface-shear and

Status of the dedicated short-range communications technology and applications : report to Congress.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-07-01

This report responds to a Congressional request for an assessment of the 5.9 Gigahertz (GHz) Dedicated Short Range : Communications (DSRC) in accordance with the requirements provided by Congress in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the : 21st Century...

Education on the Cloud: Researching Student-Centered, Cloud-Based Learning Prospects in the Context of a European Network

Science.gov (United States)

Panoutsopoulos, Hercules; Donert, Karl; Papoutsis, Panos; Kotsanis, Ioannis

2015-01-01

During the last few years, ongoing developments in the technological field of Cloud computing have initiated discourse on the potential of the Cloud to be systematically exploited in educational contexts. Research interest has been stimulated by a range of advantages of Cloud technologies (e.g. adaptability, flexibility, scalability,…

Guidelines for Building a Private Cloud Infrastructure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ali Babar, Muhammad; Pantić, Zoran

on open source software. One of the key objectives of this project was to create relevant material for providing a reference guide on the use of open source software for designing and implementing a private cloud. The primary focus on this document is to provide a brief background on different theoretical......, and a view on the different aspects of cloud computing in this document. Defining the cloud computing; analysis of the economical, security, legality, privacy, confidentiality aspects. There is also a short discussion about the potential impact on the employee’s future roles, and the challenges of migrating...... to a private cloud. The management of the instances and the related subjects are out of the scope of this document. This document is accompanied by three supplemental books that contain material from our experiences of scaling out in the virtual environment and cloud implementation in a physical environment...

Short range order of Mg-Cd-alloys during the transition from the solid to the molten state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boos, A.; Steeb, S.

1977-01-01

Recently a method was published for the determination of short range order parameters in binary melts and also a method for the determination of the concentration of different structures which form such a melt. These methods are used in the present work to evaluate the atomic structure of Mg-Cd-melts and to reval the changes in short range order during the melting process. (orig.) [de

CloudSat-Constrained Cloud Ice Water Path and Cloud Top Height Retrievals from MHS 157 and 183.3 GHz Radiances

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, J.; Wu, D. L.

2014-01-01

Ice water path (IWP) and cloud top height (ht) are two of the key variables in determining cloud radiative and thermodynamical properties in climate models. Large uncertainty remains among IWP measurements from satellite sensors, in large part due to the assumptions made for cloud microphysics in these retrievals. In this study, we develop a fast algorithm to retrieve IWP from the 157, 183.3+/-3 and 190.3 GHz radiances of the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) such that the MHS cloud ice retrieval is consistent with CloudSat IWP measurements. This retrieval is obtained by constraining the empirical forward models between collocated and coincident measurements of CloudSat IWP and MHS cloud-induced radiance depression (Tcir) at these channels. The empirical forward model is represented by a lookup table (LUT) of Tcir-IWP relationships as a function of ht and the frequency channel.With ht simultaneously retrieved, the IWP is found to be more accurate. The useful range of the MHS IWP retrieval is between 0.5 and 10 kg/sq m, and agrees well with CloudSat in terms of the normalized probability density function (PDF). Compared to the empirical model, current operational radiative transfer models (RTMs) still have significant uncertainties in characterizing the observed Tcir-IWP relationships. Therefore, the empirical LUT method developed here remains an effective approach to retrieving ice cloud properties from the MHS-like microwave channels.

A Climatology of Midlatitude Continental Clouds from the ARM SGP Site. Part II; Cloud Fraction and Surface Radiative Forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Xi, B.; Minnis, P.

2006-01-01

Data collected at the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) Central Facility (SCF) are analyzed to determine the monthly and hourly variations of cloud fraction and radiative forcing between January 1997 and December 2002. Cloud fractions are estimated for total cloud cover and for single-layered low (0-3 km), middle (3-6 km), and high clouds (more than 6 km) using ARM SCG ground-based paired lidar-radar measurements. Shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) fluxes are derived from up- and down-looking standard precision spectral pyranometers and precision infrared radiometer measurements with uncertainties of approximately 10 Wm(exp -2). The annual averages of total, and single-layered low, middle and high cloud fractions are 0.49, 0.11, 0.03, and 0.17, respectively. Both total and low cloud amounts peak during January and February and reach a minimum during July and August, high clouds occur more frequently than other types of clouds with a peak in summer. The average annual downwelling surface SW fluxes for total and low clouds (151 and 138 Wm(exp-2), respectively) are less than those under middle and high clouds (188 and 201 Wm(exp -2), respectively), but the downwelling LW fluxes (349 and 356 Wm(exp -2)) underneath total and low clouds are greater than those from middle and high clouds (337 and 333 Wm(exp -2)). Low clouds produce the largest LW warming (55 Wm(exp -2) and SW cooling (-91 Wm(exp -2)) effects with maximum and minimum absolute values in spring and summer, respectively. High clouds have the smallest LW warming (17 Wm(exp -2)) and SW cooling (-37 Wm(exp -2)) effects at the surface. All-sky SW CRF decreases and LW CRF increases with increasing cloud fraction with mean slopes of -0.984 and 0.616 Wm(exp -2)%(exp -1), respectively. Over the entire diurnal cycle, clouds deplete the amount of surface insolation more than they add to the downwelling LW flux. The calculated CRFs do not appear to be significantly

THE GALFA-H I COMPACT CLOUD CATALOG

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saul, Destry R.; Peek, J. E. G.; Grcevich, J.; Putman, M. E.; Brown, A. R. H.; Hamden, E. T. [Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Douglas, K. A. [Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary/Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, P.O. Box 248, Penticton, BC V2A 6J9 (Canada); Korpela, E. J. [Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Stanimirovic, S.; Lee, M.; Burkhart, B.; Pingel, N. M. [Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 475 N Charter St, Madison, WI 53703 (United States); Heiles, C. [Radio Astronomy Lab, UC Berkeley, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Gibson, S. J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101 (United States); Begum, A. [Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, ITI Campus (Gas Rahat) Building, Govindpura, Bhopal-23 (India); Tonnesen, S. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)

2012-10-10

We present a catalog of 1964 isolated, compact neutral hydrogen clouds from the Galactic Arecibo L-Band Feed Array Survey Data Release One. The clouds were identified by a custom machine-vision algorithm utilizing the difference of Gaussian kernels to search for clouds smaller than 20'. The clouds have velocities typically between |V{sub LSR}| =20 and 400 km s{sup -1}, line widths of 2.5-35 km s{sup -1}, and column densities ranging from 1 to 35 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 18} cm{sup -2}. The distances to the clouds in this catalog may cover several orders of magnitude, so the masses may range from less than a solar mass for clouds within the Galactic disk, to greater than 10{sup 4} M{sub Sun} for high-velocity clouds (HVCs) at the tip of the Magellanic Stream. To search for trends, we separate the catalog into five populations based on position, velocity, and line width: HVCs; galaxy candidates; cold low-velocity clouds (LVCs); warm, low positive-velocity clouds in the third Galactic quadrant; and the remaining warm LVCs. The observed HVCs are found to be associated with previously identified HVC complexes. We do not observe a large population of isolated clouds at high velocities as some models predict. We see evidence for distinct histories at low velocities in detecting populations of clouds corotating with the Galactic disk and a set of clouds that is not corotating.

Influence of short range ordering and clustering on transport properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vigier, G.; Pelletier, J.M.

1982-01-01

The influence of short range ordering and clustering phenomena on the electrical resistivity p and the thermopower S is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. According to the considered alloys either increases or decreases of transport properties may be observed when deviations from a random distribution of solute atoms occur. These observations are explained with a model based on free electrons and Born approximations the importance of the potential choice is underlined; two kinds of description of the structure factor are investigated. A good semiquantitative agreement is obtained between computed results and experimental observations

OTDM Networking for Short Range High-Capacity Highly Dynamic Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Medhin, Ashenafi Kiros

This PhD thesis aims at investigating the possibility of designing energy-efficient high-capacity (up to Tbit/s) optical network scenarios, leveraging on the effect of collective switching of many bits simultaneously, as is inherent in high bit rate serial optical data signals. The focus...... is on short range highly dynamic networks, catering to data center needs. The investigation concerns optical network scenarios, and experimental implementations of high bit rate serial data packet generation and reception, scalable optical packet labeling, simple optical label extraction and stable ultra...

Whole Sky Imager Characterization of Sky Obscuration by Clouds for the Starfire Optical Range

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-11

to the definition of nominal thin clouds, the pyranometer threshold, and the definition of opaque clouds. The last comes from a casual remark that...Comment 1 .794 .23 2 .631 .46 3 .501 .69 .13 – 1.3 .97 - .74 .03 - 0 .3 Nominal thin cirrus 2 – 4 .63 - .40 .46 - .92 Nominal Pyranometer threshold

Cloud Processing of Secondary Organic Aerosol from Isoprene and Methacrolein Photooxidation.

Science.gov (United States)

Giorio, Chiara; Monod, Anne; Brégonzio-Rozier, Lola; DeWitt, Helen Langley; Cazaunau, Mathieu; Temime-Roussel, Brice; Gratien, Aline; Michoud, Vincent; Pangui, Edouard; Ravier, Sylvain; Zielinski, Arthur T; Tapparo, Andrea; Vermeylen, Reinhilde; Claeys, Magda; Voisin, Didier; Kalberer, Markus; Doussin, Jean-François

2017-10-12

Aerosol-cloud interaction contributes to the largest uncertainties in the estimation and interpretation of the Earth's changing energy budget. The present study explores experimentally the impacts of water condensation-evaporation events, mimicking processes occurring in atmospheric clouds, on the molecular composition of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from the photooxidation of methacrolein. A range of on- and off-line mass spectrometry techniques were used to obtain a detailed chemical characterization of SOA formed in control experiments in dry conditions, in triphasic experiments simulating gas-particle-cloud droplet interactions (starting from dry conditions and from 60% relative humidity (RH)), and in bulk aqueous-phase experiments. We observed that cloud events trigger fast SOA formation accompanied by evaporative losses. These evaporative losses decreased SOA concentration in the simulation chamber by 25-32% upon RH increase, while aqueous SOA was found to be metastable and slowly evaporated after cloud dissipation. In the simulation chamber, SOA composition measured with a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer, did not change during cloud events compared with high RH conditions (RH > 80%). In all experiments, off-line mass spectrometry techniques emphasize the critical role of 2-methylglyceric acid as a major product of isoprene chemistry, as an important contributor to the total SOA mass (15-20%) and as a key building block of oligomers found in the particulate phase. Interestingly, the comparison between the series of oligomers obtained from experiments performed under different conditions show a markedly different reactivity. In particular, long reaction times at high RH seem to create the conditions for aqueous-phase processing to occur in a more efficient manner than during two relatively short cloud events.

Direct damage to vegetation caused by acid rain and polluted cloud: definition of critical levels for forest trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Cape, J N

1993-01-01

stimulated by acidic precipitation, amounts leached are small compared with root uptake, unless soils have been impoverished. This aspect of the potential effects of acidic precipitation is best considered in terms of the long-term critical-load of pollutants to the soil. Given the practical difficulties in monitoring cloud water composition, a method for defining critical levels is proposed, which uses climatological average data to identify the duration and frequency of hill cloud, and combines this information with measured or modelled concentrations of particulate sulphate in the atmosphere, to derive cloud water concentrations as a function of cloud liquid water content. For forests within 100 m of the cloud base the critical levels of particulate sulphate, corresponding to solution concentrations in the range 150-500 micromol litre(-1), are in the range 1-3.3 microg S m(-3). These concentrations are observed over much of central Europe, suggesting that many montane forests are at risk of direct effects of fossil-fuel-derived pollutants in cloud.

INFRARED DARK CLOUDS IN THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Min-Young; Stanimirovic, Snezana; Devine, Kathryn E.; Ott, Juergen; Van Loon, Jacco Th.; Oliveira, Joana M.; Bolatto, Alberto D.; Jones, Paul A.; Cunningham, Maria R.

2009-01-01

We have applied the unsharp-masking technique to the 24 μm image of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope, to search for high-extinction regions. This technique has been used to locate very dense and cold interstellar clouds in the Galaxy, particularly infrared dark clouds (IRDCs). Fifty-five candidate regions of high extinction, namely, high-contrast regions (HCRs), have been identified from the generated decremental contrast image of the SMC. Most HCRs are located in the southern bar region and mainly distributed in the outskirts of CO clouds, but most likely contain a significant amount of H 2 . HCRs have a peak contrast at 24 μm of 2%-2.5% and a size of 8-14 pc. This corresponds to the size of typical and large Galactic IRDCs, but Galactic IRDCs are 2-3 times darker at 24 μm than our HCRs. To constrain the physical properties of the HCRs, we have performed NH 3 , N 2 H + , HNC, HCO + , and HCN observations toward one of the HCRs, HCR LIRS36-east, using the Australia Telescope Compact Array and the Mopra single-dish radio telescope. We did not detect any molecular line emission, however, our upper limits to the column densities of molecular species suggest that HCRs are most likely moderately dense with n ∼ 10 3 cm -3 . This volume density is in agreement with predictions for the cool atomic phase in low-metallicity environments. We suggest that HCRs may be tracing clouds at the transition from atomic to molecule-dominated medium, and could be a powerful way to study early stages of gas condensation in low-metallicity galaxies. Alternatively, if made up of dense molecular clumps <0.5 pc in size, HCRs could be counterparts of Galactic IRDCs, and/or regions with highly unusual abundance of very small dust grains.

Multi-sensor measurements of mixed-phase clouds above Greenland

Science.gov (United States)

Stillwell, Robert A.; Shupe, Matthew D.; Thayer, Jeffrey P.; Neely, Ryan R.; Turner, David D.

2018-04-01

Liquid-only and mixed-phase clouds in the Arctic strongly affect the regional surface energy and ice mass budgets, yet much remains unknown about the nature of these clouds due to the lack of intensive measurements. Lidar measurements of these clouds are challenged by very large signal dynamic range, which makes even seemingly simple tasks, such as thermodynamic phase classification, difficult. This work focuses on a set of measurements made by the Clouds Aerosol Polarization and Backscatter Lidar at Summit, Greenland and its retrieval algorithms, which use both analog and photon counting as well as orthogonal and non-orthogonal polarization retrievals to extend dynamic range and improve overall measurement quality and quantity. Presented here is an algorithm for cloud parameter retrievals that leverages enhanced dynamic range retrievals to classify mixed-phase clouds. This best guess retrieval is compared to co-located instruments for validation.

Short-range and long-range forces in quantum theory: selected topics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hiller, J.R.

1980-01-01

Short-range forces (SRF) are encountered when the effects of the parity-violating (PV) weak neutral current are considered in atomic systems. We consider these and other SRF that are associated with operators that contain delta functions. Identities which convert a delta-function matrix element to that of a global operator are reviewed. Past and possible future applications of such identities are described. It has been found that use of these identities can substantially improve the results obtained with less accurate wave functions. We present a further application to the hyperfine structure of the ground state of lithium where we again find that results are improved by the use of an identity. A long-range force (LRF) is here defined to be one that is associated with a potential V(r) that is asymptotically of the form lambda r - 1 (r 0 /r)/sup N-1/. We use a dispersion-theoretic approach to study LRF between hadrons due to two-glucon exchange within the framework of quantum chromodynamics. Such an LRF is usually related to the presence of a spectrum of physical states that extends to zero mass. A speculative scheme put forward by Feinberg and Sucher is used to avoid requiring the existence of massless gluons as observable particles. Semi-quantitative expressions for the two-glucon exchange potential between hadrons and, in particular, between two nucleons are obtained. Limits on two-gluon corrections to πp forward scattering dispersion relations are used to provide an upper bound for lambda, the coupling constant in the nucleon-nucleon potential. For N greater than or equal to 7, expected on heuristic grounds, we obtain the bound lambda less than or equal to 10 6 , which is very weak; gluon effects as treated here do not lead to significant effects in the dispersion-theoretic analysis of πp scattering

StackInsights: Cognitive Learning for Hybrid Cloud Readiness

OpenAIRE

Qiao, Mu; Bathen, Luis; Génot, Simon-Pierre; Lee, Sunhwan; Routray, Ramani

2017-01-01

Hybrid cloud is an integrated cloud computing environment utilizing a mix of public cloud, private cloud, and on-premise traditional IT infrastructures. Workload awareness, defined as a detailed full range understanding of each individual workload, is essential in implementing the hybrid cloud. While it is critical to perform an accurate analysis to determine which workloads are appropriate for on-premise deployment versus which workloads can be migrated to a cloud off-premise, the assessment...

Contributions of Different Cloud Types to Feedbacks and Rapid Adjustments in CMIP5*

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zelinka, Mark D. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison; Klein, Stephen A. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison; Taylor, Karl E. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison; Andrews, Timothy [Met Office Hadley Center, Exeter (United Kingdom); Webb, Mark J. [Met Office Hadley Center, Exeter (United Kingdom); Gregory, Jonathan M. [Univ. of Reading, Exeter (United Kingdom). National Center for Atmospheric Science; Forster, Piers M. [Univ. of Leeds (United Kingdom)

2013-07-01

When using five climate model simulations of the response to an abrupt quadrupling of CO₂, the authors perform the first simultaneous model intercomparison of cloud feedbacks and rapid radiative adjustments with cloud masking effects removed, partitioned among changes in cloud types and gross cloud properties. After CO₂ quadrupling, clouds exhibit a rapid reduction in fractional coverage, cloud-top pressure, and optical depth, with each contributing equally to a 1.1 W m^-2 net cloud radiative adjustment, primarily from shortwave radiation. Rapid reductions in midlevel clouds and optically thick clouds are important in reducing planetary albedo in every model. As the planet warms, clouds become fewer, higher, and thicker, and global mean net cloud feedback is positive in all but one model and results primarily from increased trapping of longwave radiation. As was true for earlier models, high cloud changes are the largest contributor to intermodel spread in longwave and shortwave cloud feedbacks, but low cloud changes are the largest contributor to the mean and spread in net cloud feedback. The importance of the negative optical depth feedback relative to the amount feedback at high latitudes is even more marked than in earlier models. Furthermore, the authors show that the negative longwave cloud adjustment inferred in previous studies is primarily caused by a 1.3 W m^-2 cloud masking of CO₂ forcing. Properly accounting for cloud masking increases net cloud feedback by 0.3 W m^-2 K^-1, whereas accounting for rapid adjustments reduces by 0.14 W m^-2 K^-1 the ensemble mean net cloud feedback through a combination of smaller positive cloud amount and altitude feedbacks and larger negative optical depth feedbacks.

Interplay of long-range and short-range Coulomb interactions in an Anderson-Mott insulator

Science.gov (United States)

Baćani, Mirko; Novak, Mario; Orbanić, Filip; Prša, Krunoslav; Kokanović, Ivan; Babić, Dinko

2017-07-01

In this paper, we tackle the complexity of coexisting disorder and Coulomb electron-electron interactions (CEEIs) in solids by addressing a strongly disordered system with intricate CEEIs and a screening that changes both with charge carrier doping level Q and temperature T . We report on an experimental comparative study of the T dependencies of the electrical conductivity σ and magnetic susceptibility χ of polyaniline pellets doped with dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid over a wide range. This material is special within the class of doped polyaniline by exhibiting in the electronic transport a crossover between a low-T variable range hopping (VRH) and a high-T nearest-neighbor hopping (NNH) well below room temperature. Moreover, there is evidence of a soft Coulomb gap ΔC in the disorder band, which implies the existence of a long-range CEEI. Simultaneously, there is an onsite CEEI manifested as a Hubbard gap U and originating in the electronic structure of doped polyaniline, which consists of localized electron states with dynamically varying occupancy. Therefore, our samples represent an Anderson-Mott insulator in which long-range and short-range CEEIs coexist. The main result of the study is the presence of a crossover between low- and high-T regimes not only in σ (T ) but also in χ (T ) , the crossover temperature T* being essentially the same for both observables over the entire doping range. The relatively large electron localization length along the polymer chains results in U being small, between 12 and 20 meV for the high and low Q , respectively. Therefore, the thermal energy at T* is sufficiently large to lead to an effective closing of the Hubbard gap and the consequent appearance of NNH in the electronic transport within the disorder band. ΔC is considerably larger than U , decreasing from 190 to 30 meV as Q increases, and plays the role of an activation energy in the NNH.

MOLECULAR CLOUDS IN THE TRIFID NEBULA M20: POSSIBLE EVIDENCE FOR A CLOUD-CLOUD COLLISION IN TRIGGERING THE FORMATION OF THE FIRST GENERATION STARS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Torii, K.; Enokiya, R.; Sano, H.; Yoshiike, S.; Hanaoka, N.; Ohama, A.; Furukawa, N.; Dawson, J. R.; Moribe, N.; Oishi, K.; Nakashima, Y.; Okuda, T.; Yamamoto, H.; Kawamura, A.; Mizuno, N.; Onishi, T.; Fukui, Y.; Maezawa, H.; Mizuno, A.

2011-01-01

A large-scale study of the molecular clouds toward the Trifid Nebula, M20, has been made in the J = 2-1 and J = 1-0 transitions of 12 CO and 13 CO. M20 is ionized predominantly by an O7.5 star HD164492. The study has revealed that there are two molecular components at separate velocities peaked toward the center of M20 and that their temperatures-30-50 K as derived by a large velocity gradient analysis-are significantly higher than the 10 K of their surroundings. We identify the two clouds as the parent clouds of the first generation stars in M20. The mass of each cloud is estimated to be ∼10 3 M sun and their separation velocity is ∼8 km s -1 over ∼1-2 pc. We find that the total mass of stars and molecular gas in M20 is less than ∼3.2 x 10 3 M sun , which is too small by an order of magnitude to gravitationally bind the system. We argue that the formation of the first generation stars, including the main ionizing O7.5 star, was triggered by the collision between the two clouds in a short timescale of ∼1 Myr, a second example alongside Westerlund 2, where a super-star cluster may have been formed due to cloud-cloud collision triggering.

Strong Constraints on Aerosol-Cloud Interactions from Volcanic Eruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Malavelle, Florent F.; Haywood, Jim M.; Jones, Andy; Gettelman, Andrew; Clarisse, Lieven; Bauduin, Sophie; Allan, Richard P.; Karset, Inger Helene H.; Kristjansson, Jon Egill; Oreopoulos, Lazaros;

Atlas2 Cloud: a framework for personal genome analysis in the cloud.

Science.gov (United States)

Evani, Uday S; Challis, Danny; Yu, Jin; Jackson, Andrew R; Paithankar, Sameer; Bainbridge, Matthew N; Jakkamsetti, Adinarayana; Pham, Peter; Coarfa, Cristian; Milosavljevic, Aleksandar; Yu, Fuli

2012-01-01

Until recently, sequencing has primarily been carried out in large genome centers which have invested heavily in developing the computational infrastructure that enables genomic sequence analysis. The recent advancements in next generation sequencing (NGS) have led to a wide dissemination of sequencing technologies and data, to highly diverse research groups. It is expected that clinical sequencing will become part of diagnostic routines shortly. However, limited accessibility to computational infrastructure and high quality bioinformatic tools, and the demand for personnel skilled in data analysis and interpretation remains a serious bottleneck. To this end, the cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technologies can help address these issues. We successfully enabled the Atlas2 Cloud pipeline for personal genome analysis on two different cloud service platforms: a community cloud via the Genboree Workbench, and a commercial cloud via the Amazon Web Services using Software-as-a-Service model. We report a case study of personal genome analysis using our Atlas2 Genboree pipeline. We also outline a detailed cost structure for running Atlas2 Amazon on whole exome capture data, providing cost projections in terms of storage, compute and I/O when running Atlas2 Amazon on a large data set. We find that providing a web interface and an optimized pipeline clearly facilitates usage of cloud computing for personal genome analysis, but for it to be routinely used for large scale projects there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way we develop tools, in standard operating procedures, and in funding mechanisms.

Influence of cosmic radiation on aerosol and cloud formation over short time periods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bondo, Torsten

in the atmosphere affect aerosol and cloud creation and whether it is realistic to observe Forbush decrease events in climate data. The thesis involves a theoretical examination of the ionization caused by Forbush decreases based on studies of hourly neutron monitor data and muon telescope data as proxies...... distribution of stable nucleated clusters, the model takes condensation and coagulation into account and includes various loss mechanisms. This model is used to investigate the growth of aerosols into cloud condensation nuclei size particles and to study the influence of nucleation rates and background vapour...... resolution satellite data and aerosol ground based measurements are presented. Here it is observed that significant decreases in the angstrom exponent from AERONET aerosols and cloud liquid water from satellites take place after the largest Forbush decreases. The timescales of this indicate...

Biomedical cloud computing with Amazon Web Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Fusaro, Vincent A; Patil, Prasad; Gafni, Erik; Wall, Dennis P; Tonellato, Peter J

2011-08-01

In this overview to biomedical computing in the cloud, we discussed two primary ways to use the cloud (a single instance or cluster), provided a detailed example using NGS mapping, and highlighted the associated costs. While many users new to the cloud may assume that entry is as straightforward as uploading an application and selecting an instance type and storage options, we illustrated that there is substantial up-front effort required before an application can make full use of the cloud's vast resources. Our intention was to provide a set of best practices and to illustrate how those apply to a typical application pipeline for biomedical informatics, but also general enough for extrapolation to other types of computational problems. Our mapping example was intended to illustrate how to develop a scalable project and not to compare and contrast alignment algorithms for read mapping and genome assembly. Indeed, with a newer aligner such as Bowtie, it is possible to map the entire African genome using one m2.2xlarge instance in 48 hours for a total cost of approximately $48 in computation time. In our example, we were not concerned with data transfer rates, which are heavily influenced by the amount of available bandwidth, connection latency, and network availability. When transferring large amounts of data to the cloud, bandwidth limitations can be a major bottleneck, and in some cases it is more efficient to simply mail a storage device containing the data to AWS (http://aws.amazon.com/importexport/). More information about cloud computing, detailed cost analysis, and security can be found in references.

Microphysical effects determine macrophysical response for aerosol impacts on deep convective clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Jiwen; Leung, L. Ruby; Rosenfeld, Daniel; Chen, Qian; Li, Zhanqing; Zhang, Jinqiang; Yan, Hongru

2013-11-01

Deep convective clouds (DCCs) play a crucial role in the general circulation, energy, and hydrological cycle of our climate system. Aerosol particles can influence DCCs by altering cloud properties, precipitation regimes, and radiation balance. Previous studies reported both invigoration and suppression of DCCs by aerosols, but few were concerned with the whole life cycle of DCC. By conducting multiple monthlong cloud-resolving simulations with spectral-bin cloud microphysics that capture the observed macrophysical and microphysical properties of summer convective clouds and precipitation in the tropics and midlatitudes, this study provides a comprehensive view of how aerosols affect cloud cover, cloud top height, and radiative forcing. We found that although the widely accepted theory of DCC invigoration due to aerosol's thermodynamic effect (additional latent heat release from freezing of greater amount of cloud water) may work during the growing stage, it is microphysical effect influenced by aerosols that drives the dramatic increase in cloud cover, cloud top height, and cloud thickness at the mature and dissipation stages by inducing larger amounts of smaller but longer-lasting ice particles in the stratiform/anvils of DCCs, even when thermodynamic invigoration of convection is absent. The thermodynamic invigoration effect contributes up to ∼27% of total increase in cloud cover. The overall aerosol indirect effect is an atmospheric radiative warming (3-5 Wṡm-2) and a surface cooling (-5 to -8 Wṡm-2). The modeling findings are confirmed by the analyses of ample measurements made at three sites of distinctly different environments.

Microphysical effects determine macrophysical response for aerosol impacts on deep convective clouds.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Jiwen; Leung, L Ruby; Rosenfeld, Daniel; Chen, Qian; Li, Zhanqing; Zhang, Jinqiang; Yan, Hongru

2013-11-26

Deep convective clouds (DCCs) play a crucial role in the general circulation, energy, and hydrological cycle of our climate system. Aerosol particles can influence DCCs by altering cloud properties, precipitation regimes, and radiation balance. Previous studies reported both invigoration and suppression of DCCs by aerosols, but few were concerned with the whole life cycle of DCC. By conducting multiple monthlong cloud-resolving simulations with spectral-bin cloud microphysics that capture the observed macrophysical and microphysical properties of summer convective clouds and precipitation in the tropics and midlatitudes, this study provides a comprehensive view of how aerosols affect cloud cover, cloud top height, and radiative forcing. We found that although the widely accepted theory of DCC invigoration due to aerosol's thermodynamic effect (additional latent heat release from freezing of greater amount of cloud water) may work during the growing stage, it is microphysical effect influenced by aerosols that drives the dramatic increase in cloud cover, cloud top height, and cloud thickness at the mature and dissipation stages by inducing larger amounts of smaller but longer-lasting ice particles in the stratiform/anvils of DCCs, even when thermodynamic invigoration of convection is absent. The thermodynamic invigoration effect contributes up to ~27% of total increase in cloud cover. The overall aerosol indirect effect is an atmospheric radiative warming (3-5 W m(-2)) and a surface cooling (-5 to -8 W m(-2)). The modeling findings are confirmed by the analyses of ample measurements made at three sites of distinctly different environments.

Aerosol impacts on California winter clouds and precipitation during CalWater 2011: local pollution vs. long-range transported dust

OpenAIRE

J. Fan; L. R. Leung; P. J. DeMott; J. M. Comstock; B. Singh; D. Rosenfeld; J. M. Tomlinson; A. White; K. A. Prather; P. Minnis; J. K. Ayers; Q. Min

2013-01-01

Mineral dust aerosols often observed over California in winter/spring, associated with long-range transport from Asia and Sahara, have been linked to enhanced precipitation based on observations. Local anthropogenic pollution, on the other hand, was shown in previous observational and modeling studies to reduce precipitation. Here we incorporate recent developments in ice nucleation parameterizations to link aerosols with ice crystal formation in a spectral-bin cloud microphysical mode...

Aerosol impacts on California winter clouds and precipitation during CalWater 2011: local pollution versus long-range transported dust

OpenAIRE

Fan, J.; Leung, L. R.; DeMott, P. J.; Comstock, J. M.; Singh, B.; Rosenfeld, D.; Tomlinson, J. M.; White, A.; Prather, K. A.; Minnis, P.; Ayers, J. K.; Min, Q.

2014-01-01

Mineral dust aerosols often observed over California in winter and spring, associated with long-range transport from Asia and the Sahara, have been linked to enhanced precipitation based on observations. Local anthropogenic pollution, on the other hand, was shown in previous observational and modeling studies to reduce precipitation. Here we incorporate recent developments in ice nucleation parameterizations to link aerosols with ice crystal formation in a spectral-bin cloud microphysical mod...

GIANT MOLECULAR CLOUD FORMATION IN DISK GALAXIES: CHARACTERIZING SIMULATED VERSUS OBSERVED CLOUD CATALOGS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Benincasa, Samantha M.; Pudritz, Ralph E.; Wadsley, James [Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1 (Canada); Tasker, Elizabeth J. [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810 (Japan)

2013-10-10

We present the results of a study of simulated giant molecular clouds (GMCs) formed in a Milky Way-type galactic disk with a flat rotation curve. This simulation, which does not include star formation or feedback, produces clouds with masses ranging between 10{sup 4} M{sub ☉} and 10{sup 7} M{sub ☉}. We compare our simulated cloud population to two observational surveys: the Boston University-Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory Galactic Ring Survey and the BIMA All-Disk Survey of M33. An analysis of the global cloud properties as well as a comparison of Larson's scaling relations is carried out. We find that simulated cloud properties agree well with the observed cloud properties, with the closest agreement occurring between the clouds at comparable resolution in M33. Our clouds are highly filamentary—a property that derives both from their formation due to gravitational instability in the sheared galactic environment, as well as to cloud-cloud gravitational encounters. We also find that the rate at which potentially star-forming gas accumulates within dense regions—wherein n{sub thresh} ≥ 10{sup 4} cm{sup –3}—is 3% per 10 Myr, in clouds of roughly 10{sup 6} M{sub ☉}. This suggests that star formation rates in observed clouds are related to the rates at which gas can be accumulated into dense subregions within GMCs via filamentary flows. The most internally well-resolved clouds are chosen for listing in a catalog of simulated GMCs—the first of its kind. The cataloged clouds are available as an extracted data set from the global simulation.

Mechanisms and Model Diversity of Trade-Wind Shallow Cumulus Cloud Feedbacks: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Vial, Jessica; Bony, Sandrine; Stevens, Bjorn; Vogel, Raphaela

2017-11-01

Shallow cumulus clouds in the trade-wind regions are at the heart of the long standing uncertainty in climate sensitivity estimates. In current climate models, cloud feedbacks are strongly influenced by cloud-base cloud amount in the trades. Therefore, understanding the key factors controlling cloudiness near cloud-base in shallow convective regimes has emerged as an important topic of investigation. We review physical understanding of these key controlling factors and discuss the value of the different approaches that have been developed so far, based on global and high-resolution model experimentations and process-oriented analyses across a range of models and for observations. The trade-wind cloud feedbacks appear to depend on two important aspects: (1) how cloudiness near cloud-base is controlled by the local interplay between turbulent, convective and radiative processes; (2) how these processes interact with their surrounding environment and are influenced by mesoscale organization. Our synthesis of studies that have explored these aspects suggests that the large diversity of model responses is related to fundamental differences in how the processes controlling trade cumulus operate in models, notably, whether they are parameterized or resolved. In models with parameterized convection, cloudiness near cloud-base is very sensitive to the vigor of convective mixing in response to changes in environmental conditions. This is in contrast with results from high-resolution models, which suggest that cloudiness near cloud-base is nearly invariant with warming and independent of large-scale environmental changes. Uncertainties are difficult to narrow using current observations, as the trade cumulus variability and its relation to large-scale environmental factors strongly depend on the time and/or spatial scales at which the mechanisms are evaluated. New opportunities for testing physical understanding of the factors controlling shallow cumulus cloud responses using

Mechanisms and Model Diversity of Trade-Wind Shallow Cumulus Cloud Feedbacks: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Vial, Jessica; Bony, Sandrine; Stevens, Bjorn; Vogel, Raphaela

Shallow cumulus clouds in the trade-wind regions are at the heart of the long standing uncertainty in climate sensitivity estimates. In current climate models, cloud feedbacks are strongly influenced by cloud-base cloud amount in the trades. Therefore, understanding the key factors controlling cloudiness near cloud-base in shallow convective regimes has emerged as an important topic of investigation. We review physical understanding of these key controlling factors and discuss the value of the different approaches that have been developed so far, based on global and high-resolution model experimentations and process-oriented analyses across a range of models and for observations. The trade-wind cloud feedbacks appear to depend on two important aspects: (1) how cloudiness near cloud-base is controlled by the local interplay between turbulent, convective and radiative processes; (2) how these processes interact with their surrounding environment and are influenced by mesoscale organization. Our synthesis of studies that have explored these aspects suggests that the large diversity of model responses is related to fundamental differences in how the processes controlling trade cumulus operate in models, notably, whether they are parameterized or resolved. In models with parameterized convection, cloudiness near cloud-base is very sensitive to the vigor of convective mixing in response to changes in environmental conditions. This is in contrast with results from high-resolution models, which suggest that cloudiness near cloud-base is nearly invariant with warming and independent of large-scale environmental changes. Uncertainties are difficult to narrow using current observations, as the trade cumulus variability and its relation to large-scale environmental factors strongly depend on the time and/or spatial scales at which the mechanisms are evaluated. New opportunities for testing physical understanding of the factors controlling shallow cumulus cloud responses using

THE ORIGIN OF NEUTRAL HYDROGEN CLOUDS IN NEARBY GALAXY GROUPS: EXPLORING THE RANGE OF GALAXY INTERACTIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chynoweth, Katie M.; Polisensky, Emil; Holley-Bockelmann, Kelly; Langston, Glen I.

2011-01-01

We combine high-resolution N-body simulations with deep observations of neutral hydrogen (H I) in nearby galaxy groups in order to explore two well-known theories of H I cloud formation: H I stripping by galaxy interactions and dark-matter minihalos with embedded H I gas. This paper presents new data from three galaxy groups-Canes Venatici I, NGC 672, and NGC 45-and assembles data from our previous galaxy group campaign to generate a rich H I cloud archive to compare to our simulated data. We find no H I clouds in the Canes Venatici I, NGC 672, or NGC 45 galaxy groups. We conclude that H I clouds in our detection space are most likely to be generated through recent, strong galaxy interactions. We find no evidence of H I clouds associated with dark-matter halos above M HI ∼ 10 6 M sun , within ±700 km s -1 of galaxies, and within 50 kpc projected distance of galaxies.

Deep, Broadband Spectral Line Surveys of Molecule-rich Interstellar Clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Widicus Weaver, Susanna L.; Laas, Jacob C.; Zou, Luyao; Kroll, Jay A.; Rad, Mary L.; Hays, Brian M.; Sanders, James L.; Cross, Trevor N.; Wehres, Nadine; McGuire, Brett A. [Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322 (United States); Lis, Dariusz C.; Sumner, Matthew C., E-mail: susanna.widicus.weaver@emory.edu [California Institute of Technology, Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics 301-17, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

2017-09-01

Spectral line surveys are an indispensable tool for exploring the physical and chemical evolution of astrophysical environments due to the vast amount of data that can be obtained in a relatively short amount of time. We present deep, broadband spectral line surveys of 30 interstellar clouds using two broadband λ  = 1.3 mm receivers at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. This information can be used to probe the influence of physical environment on molecular complexity. We observed a wide variety of sources to examine the relative abundances of organic molecules as they relate to the physical properties of the source (i.e., temperature, density, dynamics, etc.). The spectra are highly sensitive, with noise levels ≤25 mK at a velocity resolution of ∼0.35 km s{sup −1}. In the initial analysis presented here, column densities and rotational temperatures have been determined for the molecular species that contribute significantly to the spectral line density in this wavelength regime. We present these results and discuss their implications for complex molecule formation in the interstellar medium.

Highly excited bound-state resonances of short-range inverse power-law potentials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hod, Shahar [The Ruppin Academic Center, Emeq Hefer (Israel); The Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem (Israel)

2017-11-15

We study analytically the radial Schroedinger equation with long-range attractive potentials whose asymptotic behaviors are dominated by inverse power-law tails of the form V(r) = -β{sub n}r{sup -n} with n > 2. In particular, assuming that the effective radial potential is characterized by a short-range infinitely repulsive core of radius R, we derive a compact analytical formula for the threshold energy E{sub l}{sup max} = E{sub l}{sup max}(n, β{sub n}, R), which characterizes the most weakly bound-state resonance (the most excited energy level) of the quantum system. (orig.)

The effects of aerosols on precipitation and dimensions of subtropical clouds: a sensitivity study using a numerical cloud model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Teller

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Numerical experiments were carried out using the Tel-Aviv University 2-D cloud model to investigate the effects of increased concentrations of Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN, giant CCN (GCCN and Ice Nuclei (IN on the development of precipitation and cloud structure in mixed-phase sub-tropical convective clouds. In order to differentiate between the contribution of the aerosols and the meteorology, all simulations were conducted with the same meteorological conditions. The results show that under the same meteorological conditions, polluted clouds (with high CCN concentrations produce less precipitation than clean clouds (with low CCN concentrations, the initiation of precipitation is delayed and the lifetimes of the clouds are longer. GCCN enhance the total precipitation on the ground in polluted clouds but they have no noticeable effect on cleaner clouds. The increased rainfall due to GCCN is mainly a result of the increased graupel mass in the cloud, but it only partially offsets the decrease in rainfall due to pollution (increased CCN. The addition of more effective IN, such as mineral dust particles, reduces the total amount of precipitation on the ground. This reduction is more pronounced in clean clouds than in polluted ones. Polluted clouds reach higher altitudes and are wider than clean clouds and both produce wider clouds (anvils when more IN are introduced. Since under the same vertical sounding the polluted clouds produce less rain, more water vapor is left aloft after the rain stops. In our simulations about 3.5 times more water evaporates after the rain stops from the polluted cloud as compared to the clean cloud. The implication is that much more water vapor is transported from lower levels to the mid troposphere under polluted conditions, something that should be considered in climate models.

EXAFS study of short range order in Fe-Zr amorphous alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez-Gubieda, M.L.; Gorria, P.; Barandiaran, J.M.; Barquin, L.F.

1995-01-01

Room temperature X-ray absorption spectra on Fe K-edge have been performed in Fe 100-x-y Zr x B y and Fe 86 Zr 7 Cu 1 B 6 alloys (x=7, 7.7, 9; y=0, 2, 4, 6). Fe-Fe coordination number and interatomic distances do not change in any sample. However, small changes in the Fe-Zr short range order, which could explain the evolution of the magnetic properties, have been observed. (orig.)

Long-range versus short-range correlations in the two-neutron transfer reaction 64Ni(18O,16O)66Ni

Science.gov (United States)

Paes, B.; Santagati, G.; Vsevolodovna, R. Magana; Cappuzzello, F.; Carbone, D.; Cardozo, E. N.; Cavallaro, M.; García-Tecocoatzi, H.; Gargano, A.; Ferreira, J. L.; Lenzi, S. M.; Linares, R.; Santopinto, E.; Vitturi, A.; Lubian, J.

2017-10-01

Recently, various two-neutron transfer studies using the (18O,16O) reaction were performed with a large success. This was achieved because of a combined use of the microscopic quantum description of the reaction mechanism and of the nuclear structure. In the present work we use this methodology to study the two-neutron transfer reaction of the 18O+64Ni system at 84 MeV incident energy, to the ground and first 2+ excited state of the residual 66Ni nucleus. All the experimental data were measured by the large acceptance MAGNEX spectrometer at the Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare -Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (Italy). We have performed exact finite range cross section calculations using the coupled channel Born approximation (CCBA) and coupled reaction channel (CRC) method for the sequential and direct two-neutron transfers, respectively. Moreover, this is the first time that the formalism of the microscopic interaction boson model (IBM-2) was applied to a two-neutron transfer reaction. From our results we conclude that for two-neutron transfer to the ground state of 66Ni, the direct transfer is the dominant reaction mechanism, whereas for the transfer to the first excited state of 66Ni, the sequential process dominates. A competition between long-range and short-range correlations is discussed, in particular, how the use of two different models (Shell model and IBM's) help to disentangle long- and short-range correlations.

Short-range correlations in an extended time-dependent mean-field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madler, P.

1982-01-01

A generalization is performed of the time-dependent mean-field theory by an explicit inclusion of strong short-range correlations on a level of microscopic reversibility relating them to realistic nucleon-nucleon forces. Invoking a least action principle for correlated trial wave functions, equations of motion for the correlation functions and the single-particle model wave function are derived in lowest order of the FAHT cluster expansion. Higher order effects as well as long-range correlations are consider only to the extent to which they contribute to the mean field via a readjusted phenomenological effective two-body interaction. The corresponding correlated stationary problem is investigated and appropriate initial conditions to describe a heavy ion reaction are proposed. The singleparticle density matrix is evaluated

Stable water isotopologue ratios in fog and cloud droplets of liquid clouds are not size-dependent

Science.gov (United States)

Spiegel, J.K.; Aemisegger, F.; Scholl, M.; Wienhold, F.G.; Collett, J.L.; Lee, T.; van Pinxteren, D.; Mertes, S.; Tilgner, A.; Herrmann, H.; Werner, Roland A.; Buchmann, N.; Eugster, W.

2012-01-01

In this work, we present the first observations of stable water isotopologue ratios in cloud droplets of different sizes collected simultaneously. We address the question whether the isotope ratio of droplets in a liquid cloud varies as a function of droplet size. Samples were collected from a ground intercepted cloud (= fog) during the Hill Cap Cloud Thuringia 2010 campaign (HCCT-2010) using a three-stage Caltech Active Strand Cloud water Collector (CASCC). An instrument test revealed that no artificial isotopic fractionation occurs during sample collection with the CASCC. Furthermore, we could experimentally confirm the hypothesis that the δ values of cloud droplets of the relevant droplet sizes (μm-range) were not significantly different and thus can be assumed to be in isotopic equilibrium immediately with the surrounding water vapor. However, during the dissolution period of the cloud, when the supersaturation inside the cloud decreased and the cloud began to clear, differences in isotope ratios of the different droplet sizes tended to be larger. This is likely to result from the cloud's heterogeneity, implying that larger and smaller cloud droplets have been collected at different moments in time, delivering isotope ratios from different collection times.

Stable water isotopologue ratios in fog and cloud droplets of liquid clouds are not size-dependent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. K. Spiegel

2012-10-01

Full Text Available In this work, we present the first observations of stable water isotopologue ratios in cloud droplets of different sizes collected simultaneously. We address the question whether the isotope ratio of droplets in a liquid cloud varies as a function of droplet size. Samples were collected from a ground intercepted cloud (= fog during the Hill Cap Cloud Thuringia 2010 campaign (HCCT-2010 using a three-stage Caltech Active Strand Cloud water Collector (CASCC. An instrument test revealed that no artificial isotopic fractionation occurs during sample collection with the CASCC. Furthermore, we could experimentally confirm the hypothesis that the δ values of cloud droplets of the relevant droplet sizes (μm-range were not significantly different and thus can be assumed to be in isotopic equilibrium immediately with the surrounding water vapor. However, during the dissolution period of the cloud, when the supersaturation inside the cloud decreased and the cloud began to clear, differences in isotope ratios of the different droplet sizes tended to be larger. This is likely to result from the cloud's heterogeneity, implying that larger and smaller cloud droplets have been collected at different moments in time, delivering isotope ratios from different collection times.

Data backup security in cloud storage system

OpenAIRE

Атаян, Борис Геннадьевич; Национальный политехнический университет Армении; Багдасарян, Татевик Араевна; Национальный политехнический университет Армении

2016-01-01

Cloud backup system is proposed, which provides means for effective creation, secure storage and restore of backups inCloud. For data archiving new efficient SGBP file format is being used in the system, which is based on DEFLATE compressionalgorithm. Proposed format provides means for fast archive creation, which can contain significant amounts of data. Modernapproaches of backup archive protection are described in the paper. Also the SGBP format is compared to heavily used ZIP format(both Z...

Multi-channel, passive, short-range anti-aircraft defence system

Science.gov (United States)

Gapiński, Daniel; Krzysztofik, Izabela; Koruba, Zbigniew

2018-01-01

The paper presents a novel method for tracking several air targets simultaneously. The developed concept concerns a multi-channel, passive, short-range anti-aircraft defence system based on the programmed selection of air targets and an algorithm of simultaneous synchronisation of several modified optical scanning seekers. The above system is supposed to facilitate simultaneous firing of several self-guided infrared rocket missiles at many different air targets. From the available information, it appears that, currently, there are no passive self-guided seekers that fulfil such tasks. This paper contains theoretical discussions and simulations of simultaneous detection and tracking of many air targets by mutually integrated seekers of several rocket missiles. The results of computer simulation research have been presented in a graphical form.

Electron-cloud instabilities and beam-induced multipacting in the LHC and in the VLHC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zimmermann, F.

1997-10-01

In the beam pipe of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), photoemission and secondary emission give rise to a quasi-stationary electron cloud, which is established after a few buncn passages. The response of this electron cloud to a transversely displaced bunch resembles a short-range wakefield and can cause a fast instability. In additoin, beam-induced multipacting of the electrons may lead to an enhanced gas desorption and an associated pressure increase. In this paper the authors report preliminary simulation results of the electron-cloud build-up both in a dipole magnet and in a straight section of the LHC at top energy. The effective wakefield created by the electron cloud translates into an instability rise time of about 40 ms horizontally and 500 ms vertically. This rise time is not much larger than that of the resistive-wall instability at injection energy. Similar simulation studies show that the instability rise time for the proposed Very Large Hadron Collider (VLHC) is about 3--4 s in both trasnverse planes. The smaller growth rate in the VLHC, as compared with the LHC, is primarily due to the much lower bunch population

Islands in the Sky: Ecophysiological Cloud-Vegetation Linkages in Southern Appalachian Mountain Cloud Forests

Science.gov (United States)

Reinhardt, K.; Emanuel, R. E.; Johnson, D. M.

2013-12-01

Mountain cloud forest (MCF) ecosystems are characterized by a high frequency of cloud fog, with vegetation enshrouded in fog. The altitudinal boundaries of cloud-fog zones co-occur with conspicuous, sharp vegetation ecotones between MCF- and non-MCF-vegetation. This suggests linkages between cloud-fog and vegetation physiology and ecosystem functioning. However, very few studies have provided a mechanistic explanation for the sharp changes in vegetation communities, or how (if) cloud-fog and vegetation are linked. We investigated ecophysiological linkages between clouds and trees in Southern Appalachian spruce-fir MCF. These refugial forests occur in only six mountain-top, sky-island populations, and are immersed in clouds on up to 80% of all growing season days. Our fundamental research questions was: How are cloud-fog and cloud-forest trees linked? We measured microclimate and physiology of canopy tree species across a range of sky conditions (cloud immersed, partly cloudy, sunny). Measurements included: 1) sunlight intensity and spectral quality; 2) carbon gain and photosynthetic capacity at leaf (gas exchange) and ecosystem (eddy covariance) scales; and 3) relative limitations to carbon gain (biochemical, stomatal, hydraulic). RESULTS: 1) Midday sunlight intensity ranged from very dark (2500 μmol m-2 s-1), and was highly variable on minute-to-minute timescales whenever clouds were present in the sky. Clouds and cloud-fog increased the proportion of blue-light wavelengths 5-15% compared to sunny conditions, and altered blue:red and red:far red ratios, both of which have been shown to strongly affect stomatal functioning. 2) Cloud-fog resulted in ~50% decreased carbon gain at leaf and ecosystem scales, due to sunlight levels below photosynthetic light-saturation-points. However, greenhouse studies and light-response-curve analyses demonstrated that MCF tree species have low light-compensation points (can photosynthesize even at low light levels), and maximum

Study of short range order in alloy of glassy metals and effect of neutron irradiation on them

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Habibi, S.; Banaee, N.; Salman, M.; Gupta, A.; Principi, G.

2000-04-01

In this paper, we have studied a series of glassy metals with composition Fe 78-x Ni x Si 8 B 14 with x=0, 15, 25,38,53, 58. We have used Moessbauer spectroscopy to get information about short range order and local structure in these alloys. The specimens are exposed to neutron irradiation to perturb local structure and their short range order. The hyperfine parameters obtained from spectra before and after n-irradiation and are compared

Limited-area short-range ensemble predictions targeted for heavy rain in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Sattler

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Inherent uncertainties in short-range quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPF from the high-resolution, limited-area numerical weather prediction model DMI-HIRLAM (LAM are addressed using two different approaches to creating a small ensemble of LAM simulations, with focus on prediction of extreme rainfall events over European river basins. The first ensemble type is designed to represent uncertainty in the atmospheric state of the initial condition and at the lateral LAM boundaries. The global ensemble prediction system (EPS from ECMWF serves as host model to the LAM and provides the state perturbations, from which a small set of significant members is selected. The significance is estimated on the basis of accumulated precipitation over a target area of interest, which contains the river basin(s under consideration. The selected members provide the initial and boundary data for the ensemble integration in the LAM. A second ensemble approach tries to address a portion of the model-inherent uncertainty responsible for errors in the forecasted precipitation field by utilising different parameterisation schemes for condensation and convection in the LAM. Three periods around historical heavy rain events that caused or contributed to disastrous river flooding in Europe are used to study the performance of the LAM ensemble designs. The three cases exhibit different dynamic and synoptic characteristics and provide an indication of the ensemble qualities in different weather situations. Precipitation analyses from the Deutsche Wetterdienst (DWD are used as the verifying reference and a comparison of daily rainfall amounts is referred to the respective river basins of the historical cases.

SPH simulations of star/planet formation triggered by cloud-cloud collisions

OpenAIRE

Kitsionas, Spyridon; Whitworth, Anthony Peter; Klessen, Ralf S.

2007-01-01

We present results of hydrodynamic simulations of star formation triggered by cloud-cloud collisions. During the early stages of star formation, low-mass objects form by gravitational instabilities in protostellar discs. A number of these low-mass objects are in the sub-stellar mass range, including a few objects of planetary mass. The disc instabilities that lead to the formation of low-mass objects in our simulations are the product of disc-disc interactions and/or interactions between the ...

Cloud Computing Organizational Benefits : A Managerial concern

OpenAIRE

Mandala, Venkata Bhaskar Reddy; Chandra, Marepalli Sharat

2012-01-01

Context: Software industry is looking for new methods and opportunities to reduce the project management problems and operational costs. Cloud Computing concept is providing answers to these problems. Cloud Computing is made possible with the availability of high internet bandwidth. Cloud Computing is providing wide range of various services to varied customer base. Cloud Computing has some key elements such as on-demand services, large pool of configurable computing resources and minimal man...

Magnetic susceptibility as a method of investigation of short-range order in strongly nonstoichiometric carbides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nazarova, S.Z.; Gusev, A.I.

2001-01-01

Magnetic susceptibility in disordered and ordered carbides of transition metals (M = Ti, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta) was studied, the results are generalized. It was ascertained that the change in carbide susceptibility induced by deviation from stoichiometry stems from specific features of electronic spectra of the compounds. The use of magnetic susceptibility for determining structural disorder-order transitions is discussed. It is shown that change in the contribution made by orbital paramagnetism, resulting from short-range order formation, is the reason of decrease in susceptibility of nonstoichiometric carbides during the ordering. Experimentally obtained data on susceptibility permitted evaluating short- and far-range order parameters in NbC y , TaC y , TiC y and HfC y carbides [ru

Perturbation theory for short-range weakly-attractive potentials in one dimension

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amore, Paolo, E-mail: paolo.amore@gmail.com [Facultad de Ciencias, CUICBAS, Universidad de Colima, Bernal Díaz del Castillo 340, Colima, Colima (Mexico); Fernández, Francisco M., E-mail: fernande@quimica.unlp.edu.ar [INIFTA (UNLP, CONICET), Division Química Teórica, Blvd. 113 S/N, Sucursal 4, Casilla de Correo 16, 1900 La Plata (Argentina)

2017-03-15

We have obtained the perturbative expressions up to sixth order for the energy of the bound state in a one dimensional, arbitrarily weak, short range finite well, applying a method originally developed by Gat and Rosenstein Ref. [1]. The expressions up to fifth order reproduce the results already known in the literature, while the sixth order had not been calculated before. As an illustration of our formulas we have applied them to two exactly solvable problems and to a nontrivial problem.

Aerosols, clouds and their climatic impacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kulmala, M; Laaksonen, A; Korhonen, P [Helsinki Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Physics

1996-12-31

The increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane may drive a significant warming of the earth`s climate. However, a topic of more recent attention is the possibility that increased atmospheric concentrations of aerosol particles might drive a cooling of the planet. There are two distinct cooling mechanisms related to the enhanced concentrations of aerosol particles: the increase in the direct reflection of solar radiation (the direct effect), and the increase in cloud reflectivity caused by greater numbers of cloud condensation nuclei available (the indirect effect). Aerosols and clouds play a major role in the scattering and absorption of radiation in the Earth`s atmosphere. Locally the net effect can vary because of different kinds of surfaces. But according to measurements, the global net effect of clouds (and aerosols) on the atmosphere is net cooling and thus in opposition to the effect of greenhouse gases. The prediction of the future evolution of the climate involves substantial uncertainties. Clouds have a major effect on the radiation balance of the Earth and the prediction of amount and radiative properties of clouds is very difficult. Also the formation mechanisms and residence times of aerosol particles in the atmosphere involve large uncertainties. Thus the most serious difficulties arise in the area of the physics of clouds and aerosols

Aerosols, clouds and their climatic impacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kulmala, M.; Laaksonen, A.; Korhonen, P. [Helsinki Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Physics

1995-12-31

The increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane may drive a significant warming of the earth`s climate. However, a topic of more recent attention is the possibility that increased atmospheric concentrations of aerosol particles might drive a cooling of the planet. There are two distinct cooling mechanisms related to the enhanced concentrations of aerosol particles: the increase in the direct reflection of solar radiation (the direct effect), and the increase in cloud reflectivity caused by greater numbers of cloud condensation nuclei available (the indirect effect). Aerosols and clouds play a major role in the scattering and absorption of radiation in the Earth`s atmosphere. Locally the net effect can vary because of different kinds of surfaces. But according to measurements, the global net effect of clouds (and aerosols) on the atmosphere is net cooling and thus in opposition to the effect of greenhouse gases. The prediction of the future evolution of the climate involves substantial uncertainties. Clouds have a major effect on the radiation balance of the Earth and the prediction of amount and radiative properties of clouds is very difficult. Also the formation mechanisms and residence times of aerosol particles in the atmosphere involve large uncertainties. Thus the most serious difficulties arise in the area of the physics of clouds and aerosols

Short- and medium-range order in a Zr73Pt27 glass: Experimental and simulation studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, S.Y.; Wang, C.Z.; Li, M.Z.; Huang, L.; Ott, R.T.; Kramer, M.J.; Sordelet, D.J.; Ho, K.M.

2008-01-01

The structure of a Zr 73 Pt 27 metallic glass, which forms a Zr 5 Pt 3 (Mn 5 Si 3 -type) phase having local atomic clusters with distorted icosahedral coordination during the primary crystallization, has been investigated by means of x-ray diffraction and combining ab initio molecular-dynamics (MD) and reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) simulations. The ab initio MD simulation provides an accurate description of short-range structural and chemical ordering in the glass. A three-dimensional atomistic model of 18?000 atoms for the glass structure has been generated by the RMC method utilizing both the structure factor S(k) from x-ray diffraction experiment and the partial pair-correlation functions from ab initio MD simulation. Honeycutt and Andersen index and Voronoi cell analyses, respectively, were used to characterize the short- and medium-range order in the atomistic structure models generated by ab initio MD and RMC simulations. The ab initio results show that an icosahedral type of short-range order is predominant in the glass state. Furthermore, analysis of the atomic model from the constrained RMC simulations reveals that the icosahedral-like clusters are packed in arrangements having higher-order correlations, thus establishing medium-range topological order up to two or three cluster shells.

Finding Tropical Cyclones on a Cloud Computing Cluster: Using Parallel Virtualization for Large-Scale Climate Simulation Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hasenkamp, Daren; Sim, Alexander; Wehner, Michael; Wu, Kesheng

2010-09-30

Extensive computing power has been used to tackle issues such as climate changes, fusion energy, and other pressing scientific challenges. These computations produce a tremendous amount of data; however, many of the data analysis programs currently only run a single processor. In this work, we explore the possibility of using the emerging cloud computing platform to parallelize such sequential data analysis tasks. As a proof of concept, we wrap a program for analyzing trends of tropical cyclones in a set of virtual machines (VMs). This approach allows the user to keep their familiar data analysis environment in the VMs, while we provide the coordination and data transfer services to ensure the necessary input and output are directed to the desired locations. This work extensively exercises the networking capability of the cloud computing systems and has revealed a number of weaknesses in the current cloud system software. In our tests, we are able to scale the parallel data analysis job to a modest number of VMs and achieve a speedup that is comparable to running the same analysis task using MPI. However, compared to MPI based parallelization, the cloud-based approach has a number of advantages. The cloud-based approach is more flexible because the VMs can capture arbitrary software dependencies without requiring the user to rewrite their programs. The cloud-based approach is also more resilient to failure; as long as a single VM is running, it can make progress while as soon as one MPI node fails the whole analysis job fails. In short, this initial work demonstrates that a cloud computing system is a viable platform for distributed scientific data analyses traditionally conducted on dedicated supercomputing systems.

Finding Tropical Cyclones on a Cloud Computing Cluster: Using Parallel Virtualization for Large-Scale Climate Simulation Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasenkamp, Daren; Sim, Alexander; Wehner, Michael; Wu, Kesheng

2010-01-01

Extensive computing power has been used to tackle issues such as climate changes, fusion energy, and other pressing scientific challenges. These computations produce a tremendous amount of data; however, many of the data analysis programs currently only run a single processor. In this work, we explore the possibility of using the emerging cloud computing platform to parallelize such sequential data analysis tasks. As a proof of concept, we wrap a program for analyzing trends of tropical cyclones in a set of virtual machines (VMs). This approach allows the user to keep their familiar data analysis environment in the VMs, while we provide the coordination and data transfer services to ensure the necessary input and output are directed to the desired locations. This work extensively exercises the networking capability of the cloud computing systems and has revealed a number of weaknesses in the current cloud system software. In our tests, we are able to scale the parallel data analysis job to a modest number of VMs and achieve a speedup that is comparable to running the same analysis task using MPI. However, compared to MPI based parallelization, the cloud-based approach has a number of advantages. The cloud-based approach is more flexible because the VMs can capture arbitrary software dependencies without requiring the user to rewrite their programs. The cloud-based approach is also more resilient to failure; as long as a single VM is running, it can make progress while as soon as one MPI node fails the whole analysis job fails. In short, this initial work demonstrates that a cloud computing system is a viable platform for distributed scientific data analyses traditionally conducted on dedicated supercomputing systems.

A short-range weather prediction system for South Africa based on a multi-model approach

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Landman, S

2012-10-01

Full Text Available stream_source_info Landman5_2012.pdf.txt stream_content_type text/plain stream_size 44898 Content-Encoding ISO-8859-1 stream_name Landman5_2012.pdf.txt Content-Type text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 1 A short... to be skillful. Moreover, the system outscores the forecast skill of the individual models. Keywords: short-range, ensemble, forecasting, precipitation, multi-model, verification Tel: +27 12 367 6054...

Determination of thermodynamical coefficients for Mo-W alloys according to short-range order parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erokhin, L.N.; Mokrov, A.P.; Shivrin, O.N.; Khanina, N.I.

1986-01-01

A method is proposed for determining thermodynamical coefficients according to short-range order parameters. The method approbation for Mo-W alloys has shown a good agreement between the thermodynamical and diffusion data. The Mo-W system in the concentration range under study is close to the ideal one. The calculated relative error of determination of interdiffusion coefficients in alloys of the Mo-W system does not exceed 16%

Investigation of tropical cirrus cloud properties using ground based lidar measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Dhaman, Reji K.; Satyanarayana, Malladi; Krishnakumar, V.; Mahadevan Pillai, V. P.; Jayeshlal, G. S.; Raghunath, K.; Venkat Ratnam, M.

2016-05-01

Cirrus clouds play a significant role in the Earths radiation budget. Therefore, knowledge of geometrical and optical properties of cirrus cloud is essential for the climate modeling. In this paper, the cirrus clouds microphysical and optical properties are made by using a ground based lidar measurements over an inland tropical station Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E), Andhra Pradesh, India. The variation of cirrus microphysical and optical properties with mid cloud temperature is also studied. The cirrus clouds mean height is generally observed in the range of 9-17km with a peak occurrence at 13- 14km. The cirrus mid cloud temperature ranges from -81°C to -46°C. The cirrus geometrical thickness ranges from 0.9- 4.5km. During the cirrus occurrence days sub-visual, thin and dense cirrus were at 37.5%, 50% and 12.5% respectively. The monthly cirrus optical depth ranges from 0.01-0.47, but most (<80%) of the cirrus have values less than 0.1. Optical depth shows a strong dependence with cirrus geometrical thickness and mid-cloud height. The monthly mean cirrus extinction ranges from 2.8E-06 to 8E-05 and depolarization ratio and lidar ratio varies from 0.13 to 0.77 and 2 to 52 sr respectively. A positive correlation exists for both optical depth and extinction with the mid-cloud temperature. The lidar ratio shows a scattered behavior with mid-cloud temperature.

The cloud-radiative forcing of the U.S. landfalling atmospheric rivers

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Qianwen

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are narrow channels in the atmosphere that transport an enormous amount of moisture from the tropics to the higher latitudes. Streaks of highly reflective clouds are observed along with the ARs in satellite imagery. These clouds both influence the moisture transport of ARs, as well as modify the Earth-Atmospheric energy budget through pathways such as cloud-radiative forcing (CRF). This dissertation studies the CRF of the U.S. Landfalling ARs in weather and climate scales. Three crucial questions are addressed. First, how do clouds produced by the ARs modulate the moisture and heat balance of the Earth-Atmospheric system? Even though studies of ARs date back to the 90s, past research has been primarily focused on their hydrological impacts. We addressed this research gap by comparing the dominant types of precipitating clouds and convection of two ARs. Through quantifying their effects on the energy balance in the midlatitudes, we found that when deep convection was the dominant cloud types of an AR, impressive CRF cooling was produced. Second, what are the sufficient climate conditions for the extensive CRF in the continental U.S.? We studied 60 ARs that reached the California coast (the Southwest ARs) and 60 ARs that reached Pacific Northwest during Nov-Mar, 2000-2008. It was found that when these West-Coast ARs were followed by the moisture surge from the Gulf of Mexico (the Gulf-Coast AR), it resulted in apparent statewide CRF. Such condition happened more frequently in the Southwest-AR scenario. Third, how does the subgrid-scale-convection-induced CRF influence the moisture transport of ARs?We ran two WRF ARW simulations for a Southwest-AR that was followed by a Gulf-Coast AR. The only difference between the two simulations was one considered the CRF of subgrid-scale clouds while the other did not. By comparing the two simulations, we found that the subgrid-scale-convection-induced CRF helped prolong the lifespan of clouds in an AR

Genes2WordCloud: a quick way to identify biological themes from gene lists and free text.

Science.gov (United States)

Baroukh, Caroline; Jenkins, Sherry L; Dannenfelser, Ruth; Ma'ayan, Avi

2011-10-13

Word-clouds recently emerged on the web as a solution for quickly summarizing text by maximizing the display of most relevant terms about a specific topic in the minimum amount of space. As biologists are faced with the daunting amount of new research data commonly presented in textual formats, word-clouds can be used to summarize and represent biological and/or biomedical content for various applications. Genes2WordCloud is a web application that enables users to quickly identify biological themes from gene lists and research relevant text by constructing and displaying word-clouds. It provides users with several different options and ideas for the sources that can be used to generate a word-cloud. Different options for rendering and coloring the word-clouds give users the flexibility to quickly generate customized word-clouds of their choice. Genes2WordCloud is a word-cloud generator and a word-cloud viewer that is based on WordCram implemented using Java, Processing, AJAX, mySQL, and PHP. Text is fetched from several sources and then processed to extract the most relevant terms with their computed weights based on word frequencies. Genes2WordCloud is freely available for use online; it is open source software and is available for installation on any web-site along with supporting documentation at http://www.maayanlab.net/G2W. Genes2WordCloud provides a useful way to summarize and visualize large amounts of textual biological data or to find biological themes from several different sources. The open source availability of the software enables users to implement customized word-clouds on their own web-sites and desktop applications.

The Spectrum of Particles with Short-Ranged Interactions in a Harmonic Trap

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Metsch B. Ch.

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The possibility to control short-ranged interactions of cold gases in optical traps by Feshbachresonances makes these systems ideal candidates to study universal scaling properties and Efimov physics. The spectrum of particles in a trap, idealised by a harmonic oscillator potential, in the zero range limit with 2- and 3-particle contact interactions is studied numerically. The Hamiltonian is regularised by restricting the oscillator basis and the coupling constants are tuned such that the ground state energies of the 2- and 3-particle sector are reproduced [1],[2]. Results for 2-, 3-, and 4 particle systems are presented and compared to exact results [3],[4].

Optimizing virtual machine placement for energy and SLA in clouds using utility functions

OpenAIRE

Abdelkhalik Mosa; Norman W. Paton

2016-01-01

Cloud computing provides on-demand access to a shared pool of computing resources, which enables organizations to outsource their IT infrastructure. Cloud providers are building data centers to handle the continuous increase in cloud users’ demands. Consequently, these cloud data centers consume, and have the potential to waste, substantial amounts of energy. This energy consumption increases the operational cost and the CO2 emissions. The goal of this paper is to develop an optimized energy ...

Cloud Water Content Sensor for Sounding Balloons and Small UAVs

Science.gov (United States)

Bognar, John A.

2009-01-01

A lightweight, battery-powered sensor was developed for measuring cloud water content, which is the amount of liquid or solid water present in a cloud, generally expressed as grams of water per cubic meter. This sensor has near-zero power consumption and can be flown on standard sounding balloons and small, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The amount of solid or liquid water is important to the study of atmospheric processes and behavior. Previous sensing techniques relied on strongly heating the incoming air, which requires a major energy input that cannot be achieved on sounding balloons or small UAVs.

Short, intermediate and mesoscopic range order in sulfur-rich binary glasses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bychkov, E.; Miloshova, M.; Price, D.L.; Benmore, C.J.; Lorriaux, A.

2006-01-01

Pulsed neutron and high-energy X-ray diffraction, small-angle neutron scattering, Raman spectroscopy and DSC were used to study structural changes on the short, intermediate and mesoscopic range scale for sulfur-rich AsS x (x (ge) 1.5) and GeS x (x (ge) 2) glasses. Two structural regions were found in the both systems. (1) Between stoichiometric (As 2 S 3 and GeS 2 ) and 'saturated' (AsS 2.2 and GeS 2.7 ) compositions, excessive sulfur atoms form sulfur dimers and/or short chains, replacing bridging sulfur in corner-sharing AsS 3/2 and GeS 4/2 units. (2) Above the 'saturated' compositions at (As) x system) appear in the glass network. The glasses become phase separated with the domains of 20-50 (angstrom), presumably enriched with sulfur rings. The longer chains Sn are not stable and crystallize to c-S 8 on ageing of a few days to several months, depending on composition.

Pricing Schemes in Cloud Computing: An Overview

OpenAIRE

Artan Mazrekaj; Isak Shabani; Besmir Sejdiu

2016-01-01

Cloud Computing is one of the technologies with rapid development in recent years where there is increasing interest in industry and academia. This technology enables many services and resources for end users. With the rise of cloud services number of companies that offer various services in cloud infrastructure is increased, thus creating a competition on prices in the global market. Cloud Computing providers offer more services to their clients ranging from infrastructure as a service (IaaS...

Hailstones: a window into the microbial and chemical inventory of a storm cloud.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tina Šantl-Temkiv

Full Text Available Storm clouds frequently form in the summer period in temperate climate zones. Studies on these inaccessible and short-lived atmospheric habitats have been scarce. We report here on the first comprehensive biogeochemical investigation of a storm cloud using hailstones as a natural stochastic sampling tool. A detailed molecular analysis of the dissolved organic matter in individual hailstones via ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry revealed the molecular formulae of almost 3000 different compounds. Only a small fraction of these compounds were rapidly biodegradable carbohydrates and lipids, suitable for microbial consumption during the lifetime of cloud droplets. However, as the cloud environment was characterized by a low bacterial density (Me = 1973 cells/ml as well as high concentrations of both dissolved organic carbon (Me = 179 µM and total dissolved nitrogen (Me = 30 µM, already trace amounts of easily degradable organic compounds suffice to support bacterial growth. The molecular fingerprints revealed a mainly soil origin of dissolved organic matter and a minor contribution of plant-surface compounds. In contrast, both the total and the cultivable bacterial community were skewed by bacterial groups (γ-Proteobacteria, Sphingobacteriales and Methylobacterium that indicated the dominance of plant-surface bacteria. The enrichment of plant-associated bacterial groups points at a selection process of microbial genera in the course of cloud formation, which could affect the long-distance transport and spatial distribution of bacteria on Earth. Based on our results we hypothesize that plant-associated bacteria were more likely than soil bacteria (i to survive the airborne state due to adaptations to life in the phyllosphere, which in many respects matches the demands encountered in the atmosphere and (ii to grow on the suitable fraction of dissolved organic matter in clouds due to their ecological strategy. We conclude that storm

Evaluation results of the optimal estimation based, multi-sensor cloud property data sets derived from AVHRR heritage measurements in the Cloud_cci project.

Science.gov (United States)

Stapelberg, S.; Jerg, M.; Stengel, M.; Hollmann, R.

2014-12-01

In 2010 the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) Cloud project was started with the objectives of generating a long-term coherent data set of cloud properties. The cloud properties considered are cloud mask, cloud top estimates, cloud optical thickness, cloud effective radius and post processed parameters such as cloud liquid and ice water path. During the first phase of the project 3 years of data spanning 2007 to 2009 have been produced on a global gridded daily and monthly mean basis. Next to the processing an extended evaluation study was started in order to gain a first understanding of the quality of the retrieved data. The critical discussion of the results of the evaluation holds a key role for the further development and improvement of the dataset's quality. The presentation will give a short overview of the evaluation study undertaken in the Cloud_cci project. The focus will be on the evaluation of gridded, monthly mean cloud fraction and cloud top data from the Cloud_cci AVHRR-heritage dataset with CLARA-A1, MODIS-Coll5, PATMOS-X and ISCCP data. Exemplary results will be shown. Strengths and shortcomings of the retrieval scheme as well as possible impacts of averaging approaches on the evaluation will be discussed. An Overview of Cloud_cci Phase 2 will be given.

On the Representation of Cloud Phase in Global Climate Models, and its Importance for Simulations of Climate Forcings and Feedbacks

Science.gov (United States)

Storelvmo, Trude; Sagoo, Navjit; Tan, Ivy

2016-04-01

Despite the growing effort in improving the cloud microphysical schemes in GCMs, most of this effort has not focused on improving the ability of GCMs to accurately simulate phase partitioning in mixed-phase clouds. Getting the relative proportion of liquid droplets and ice crystals in clouds right in GCMs is critical for the representation of cloud radiative forcings and cloud-climate feedbacks. Here, we first present satellite observations of cloud phase obtained by NASA's CALIOP instrument, and report on robust statistical relationships between cloud phase and several aerosols species that have been demonstrated to act as ice nuclei (IN) in laboratory studies. We then report on results from model intercomparison projects that reveal that GCMs generally underestimate the amount of supercooled liquid in clouds. For a selected GCM (NCAR 's CAM5), we thereafter show that the underestimate can be attributed to two main factors: i) the presence of IN in the mixed-phase temperature range, and ii) the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process, which converts liquid to ice once ice crystals have formed. Finally, we show that adjusting these two processes such that the GCM's cloud phase is in agreement with the observed has a substantial impact on the simulated radiative forcing due to IN perturbations, as well as on the cloud-climate feedbacks and ultimately climate sensitivity simulated by the GCM.

A numerical study of aerosol influence on mixed-phase stratiform clouds through modulation of the liquid phase

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. de Boer

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Numerical simulations were carried out in a high-resolution two-dimensional framework to increase our understanding of aerosol indirect effects in mixed-phase stratiform clouds. Aerosol characteristics explored include insoluble particle type, soluble mass fraction, influence of aerosol-induced freezing point depression and influence of aerosol number concentration. Simulations were analyzed with a focus on the processes related to liquid phase microphysics, and ice formation was limited to droplet freezing. Of the aerosol properties investigated, aerosol insoluble mass type and its associated freezing efficiency was found to be most relevant to cloud lifetime. Secondary effects from aerosol soluble mass fraction and number concentration also alter cloud characteristics and lifetime. These alterations occur via various mechanisms, including changes to the amount of nucleated ice, influence on liquid phase precipitation and ice riming rates, and changes to liquid droplet nucleation and growth rates. Alteration of the aerosol properties in simulations with identical initial and boundary conditions results in large variability in simulated cloud thickness and lifetime, ranging from rapid and complete glaciation of liquid to the production of long-lived, thick stratiform mixed-phase cloud.

Cloud Infrastructure & Applications - CloudIA

Science.gov (United States)

Sulistio, Anthony; Reich, Christoph; Doelitzscher, Frank

The idea behind Cloud Computing is to deliver Infrastructure-as-a-Services and Software-as-a-Service over the Internet on an easy pay-per-use business model. To harness the potentials of Cloud Computing for e-Learning and research purposes, and to small- and medium-sized enterprises, the Hochschule Furtwangen University establishes a new project, called Cloud Infrastructure & Applications (CloudIA). The CloudIA project is a market-oriented cloud infrastructure that leverages different virtualization technologies, by supporting Service-Level Agreements for various service offerings. This paper describes the CloudIA project in details and mentions our early experiences in building a private cloud using an existing infrastructure.

Short-range order of amorphous FeNiB alloy after neutron irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miglierini, M.; Sitek, J.; Baluch, S.; Cirak, J.; Lipka, J.

1990-01-01

Transmission Moessbauer spectroscopy was used to study irradiation-induced changes in the short-range order of an amorphous Fe 80-x Ni x B 20 alloy. Neutron irradiation led to an increase of the width of a hyperfine field distribution implying atomic rearrangement towards disordering. Changes in a mean value of a HFD and Moessbauer line areas can be associated with a reorientation of spins due to radiation damage. (orig.)

Directional and short-range ordering kinetics in metallic alloys, crystalline and amorphous

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hillairet, J.

1985-01-01

This presentation describes the methods (resistometric and anelastic) based on analysis of stress-induced directional ordering and short-range ordering and their application to the study of metallic alloys, crystalline and amorphous. It focuses on the determination of the atomic mobility and point defect properties. It discusses also the structural information which can be gained by Zener relaxation studies about the order-disorder transition and self-induced directional ordering phenomena

Changes in structure of the short-range order of the InP melt when heated

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glazov, V.M.; Dovletov, K.; Nashel'skij, A.Ya.; Mamedov, M.M.

1977-01-01

An investigation of the temperature dependence of the InP viscosity has indicated an ''after-melting'' effect similar to that observed in other A 3 V 5 compounds having a sphalerite structure. The termodynamic parameters of the viscous flow of indium phosphide melt have been calculated, and a suggestion has been made on the loosening of the short-range order structure of the melt during the period preceding solidification. With the similarity in the behaviour of InP and of A 3 Sb compound melts as a basis, a suggestion has been put forward that the influence of the thermal dissociation upon the character of the changes in the short-range order structure directly after transition from the solid to the liquid phase is negligible

Tritium clouds environmental impact in air into the Western Mediterranean Basin evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, P.; Velarde, M.; Ardao, J.; Perlado, J.M.; Sedano, L.

2012-01-01

The paper considers short-term releases of tritium (mainly but not only tritium hydride (HT)) to the atmosphere from a potential ITER-like fusion reactor located in the Mediterranean Basin and explores if the short range legal exposure limits are exceeded (both locally and downwind). For this, a coupled Lagrangian ECMWF/FLEXPART model has been used to follow real time releases of tritium. This tool was analyzed for nominal tritium operational conditions under selected incidental conditions to determine resultant local and Western Mediterranean effects, together with hourly observations of wind, to provide a short-range approximation of tritium cloud behavior. Since our results cannot be compared with radiological station measurements of tritium in air, we use the NORMTRI Gaussian model. We demonstrate an overestimation of the sequence of tritium concentrations in the atmosphere, close to the reactor, estimated with this model when compared with ECMWF/FLEXPART results. A Gaussian “mesoscale” qualification tool has been used to validate the ECMWF/FLEXPART for winter 2010/spring 2011 with a database of the HT plumes. It is considered that NORMTRI allows evaluation of tritium-in-air-plume patterns and its contribution to doses.

Exploiting orbital effects for short-range extravehicular transfers

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Trevor; Baughman, David

The problem studied in this paper is that of using Simplified Aid for Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Rescue (SAFER) to carry out efficient short-range transfers from the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Orbiter to the vicinity of the underside of the vehicle, for instance for inspection and repair of thermal tiles or umbilical doors. Trajectories are shown to exist, for the shuttle flying noise forward and belly down, that take the astronaut to the vicinity of the underside with no thrusting after the initial push-off. However, these trajectories are too slow to be of practical interest, as they take roughly an hour to execute. Additionally, they are quite sensitive to errors in the initial push-off rates. To overcome both of these difficulties, trajectories are then studied which include a single in-flight impulse of small magnitude ( in the range 0.1 - 0.4 fps). For operational simplicity, this impulse is applied towards the Orbiter at the moment when the line-of -sight of the EVA crewmember is tangential to the underside of the vehicle. These trajectories are considerably faster than the non-impulsive ones: transit times of less than 10 minutes are achievable. Furthermore, the man-in-the-loop feedback scheme used for impulse timing greatly reduces the sensitivity to initial velocity errors. Finally, similar one-impulse trajectories are also shown to exist for the Orbiter in a gravity-gradient attitiude.

Neutron diffraction study on the medium and short-range order of ternary chalcogenide glasses

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Neov, S.; Gerasimova, I.; Skordeva, E.; Arsova, D.; Pamukchieva, V.; Mikula, Pavol; Lukáš, Petr; Sonntag, R.

1999-01-01

Roč. 34, - (1999), s. 3669-3676 ISSN 0022-2461 R&D Projects: GA ČR GV202/97/K038 Keywords : neutron diffraction * short-range order * chalcogenide glasses Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 0.786, year: 1999

Characterization of long-lived radioactive dust clouds generated in uranium mill operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bigu, J.

1987-01-01

The characteristics of long-lived radioactive dust clouds generated in several mechanical and physico-chemical operations in a uranium mill have been investigated. The study consisted of the determination of dust size distribution, and of the radionuclides contained in the particles of each dimension class ranging from <0.1 to 26 μm in diameter. Experiments were conducted using several cascade impactors operating at different sample flow rates. Two different types of cascade impactors were used. Radionuclide identification was done using α-spectrometry and γ-spectrometry. Long-lived and short-lived radionuclides were identified in dust samples. The characteristics of the dust clouds depended on the mill operation. The following operations were studied: crushing (vibrating grizzly, jaw crusher, cone crusher); screening; ore transportation; grinding; acid leaching; counter-current decantation; yellowcake precipitation and drying; and yellowcake packaging. In addition, other dust and radioactivity measurements have been carried out

A scalable and multi-purpose point cloud server (PCS) for easier and faster point cloud data management and processing

Science.gov (United States)

Cura, Rémi; Perret, Julien; Paparoditis, Nicolas

2017-05-01

In addition to more traditional geographical data such as images (rasters) and vectors, point cloud data are becoming increasingly available. Such data are appreciated for their precision and true three-Dimensional (3D) nature. However, managing point clouds can be difficult due to scaling problems and specificities of this data type. Several methods exist but are usually fairly specialised and solve only one aspect of the management problem. In this work, we propose a comprehensive and efficient point cloud management system based on a database server that works on groups of points (patches) rather than individual points. This system is specifically designed to cover the basic needs of point cloud users: fast loading, compressed storage, powerful patch and point filtering, easy data access and exporting, and integrated processing. Moreover, the proposed system fully integrates metadata (like sensor position) and can conjointly use point clouds with other geospatial data, such as images, vectors, topology and other point clouds. Point cloud (parallel) processing can be done in-base with fast prototyping capabilities. Lastly, the system is built on open source technologies; therefore it can be easily extended and customised. We test the proposed system with several billion points obtained from Lidar (aerial and terrestrial) and stereo-vision. We demonstrate loading speeds in the ˜50 million pts/h per process range, transparent-for-user and greater than 2 to 4:1 compression ratio, patch filtering in the 0.1 to 1 s range, and output in the 0.1 million pts/s per process range, along with classical processing methods, such as object detection.

Searching for Short Range Correlations Using (e,e'NN) Reactions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Bin [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

2003-02-01

Electron induced two nucleon knockout reactions (e,e'pp) and (e,e'np) were performed for ³He, ⁴He, and ¹²C nuclei with incident energies of 2.261 GeV and 4.461 GeV using the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab. Events with missing momenta lower than the Fermi level and missing energies smaller than the pion threshold were studied. The residual system was assumed to be a spectator and the process was considered as a quasi-free knockout of an NN pair. The data showed that the initial momentum extends up to 800 MeV/c with considerable strength. The cross sections for ³He(e,e'pp)n were compared to the calculations of J.M. Laget. It was found that the final state interactions (FSI) and the meson exchange currents (MEC) dominate the cross sections and the short range properties of the NN pair were substantially undermined. However, the node of the S state wave function of the pp pair at around 400 MeV/c initial momentum starts to be recognizable in the 4.461 GeV data. The data and the theory suggest that with higher momentum transfers, especially in the region x_Bj > 1, the competing processes such as FSI and MEC will be less important and the detailed study of the short-range properties of nucleons inside nuclei will be more desirable.

Introducing a new family of short-range potentials and their numerical solutions using the asymptotic iteration method

Science.gov (United States)

Assi, I. A.; Sous, A. J.

2018-05-01

The goal of this work is to derive a new class of short-range potentials that could have a wide range of physical applications, specially in molecular physics. The tridiagonal representation approach has been developed beyond its limitations to produce new potentials by requiring the representation of the Schrödinger wave operator to be multidiagonal and symmetric. This produces a family of Hulthén potentials that has a specific structure, as mentioned in the introduction. As an example, we have solved the nonrelativistic wave equation for the new four-parameter short-range screening potential numerically using the asymptotic iteration method, where we tabulated the eigenvalues for both s -wave and arbitrary l -wave cases in tables.

Parameterizing Size Distribution in Ice Clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DeSlover, Daniel; Mitchell, David L.

2009-09-25

PARAMETERIZING SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS IN ICE CLOUDS David L. Mitchell and Daniel H. DeSlover ABSTRACT An outstanding problem that contributes considerable uncertainty to Global Climate Model (GCM) predictions of future climate is the characterization of ice particle sizes in cirrus clouds. Recent parameterizations of ice cloud effective diameter differ by a factor of three, which, for overcast conditions, often translate to changes in outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) of 55 W m-2 or more. Much of this uncertainty in cirrus particle sizes is related to the problem of ice particle shattering during in situ sampling of the ice particle size distribution (PSD). Ice particles often shatter into many smaller ice fragments upon collision with the rim of the probe inlet tube. These small ice artifacts are counted as real ice crystals, resulting in anomalously high concentrations of small ice crystals (D < 100 µm) and underestimates of the mean and effective size of the PSD. Half of the cirrus cloud optical depth calculated from these in situ measurements can be due to this shattering phenomenon. Another challenge is the determination of ice and liquid water amounts in mixed phase clouds. Mixed phase clouds in the Arctic contain mostly liquid water, and the presence of ice is important for determining their lifecycle. Colder high clouds between -20 and -36 oC may also be mixed phase but in this case their condensate is mostly ice with low levels of liquid water. Rather than affecting their lifecycle, the presence of liquid dramatically affects the cloud optical properties, which affects cloud-climate feedback processes in GCMs. This project has made advancements in solving both of these problems. Regarding the first problem, PSD in ice clouds are uncertain due to the inability to reliably measure the concentrations of the smallest crystals (D < 100 µm), known as the “small mode”. Rather than using in situ probe measurements aboard aircraft, we employed a treatment of ice

Genes2WordCloud: a quick way to identify biological themes from gene lists and free text

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ma'ayan Avi

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Word-clouds recently emerged on the web as a solution for quickly summarizing text by maximizing the display of most relevant terms about a specific topic in the minimum amount of space. As biologists are faced with the daunting amount of new research data commonly presented in textual formats, word-clouds can be used to summarize and represent biological and/or biomedical content for various applications. Results Genes2WordCloud is a web application that enables users to quickly identify biological themes from gene lists and research relevant text by constructing and displaying word-clouds. It provides users with several different options and ideas for the sources that can be used to generate a word-cloud. Different options for rendering and coloring the word-clouds give users the flexibility to quickly generate customized word-clouds of their choice. Methods Genes2WordCloud is a word-cloud generator and a word-cloud viewer that is based on WordCram implemented using Java, Processing, AJAX, mySQL, and PHP. Text is fetched from several sources and then processed to extract the most relevant terms with their computed weights based on word frequencies. Genes2WordCloud is freely available for use online; it is open source software and is available for installation on any web-site along with supporting documentation at http://www.maayanlab.net/G2W. Conclusions Genes2WordCloud provides a useful way to summarize and visualize large amounts of textual biological data or to find biological themes from several different sources. The open source availability of the software enables users to implement customized word-clouds on their own web-sites and desktop applications.

Formation of Massive Molecular Cloud Cores by Cloud-cloud Collision

OpenAIRE

Inoue, Tsuyoshi; Fukui, Yasuo

2013-01-01

Recent observations of molecular clouds around rich massive star clusters including NGC3603, Westerlund 2, and M20 revealed that the formation of massive stars could be triggered by a cloud-cloud collision. By using three-dimensional, isothermal, magnetohydrodynamics simulations with the effect of self-gravity, we demonstrate that massive, gravitationally unstable, molecular cloud cores are formed behind the strong shock waves induced by the cloud-cloud collision. We find that the massive mol...

Interface-Resolving Simulation of Collision Efficiency of Cloud Droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lian-Ping; Peng, Cheng; Rosa, Bodgan; Onishi, Ryo

2017-11-01

Small-scale air turbulence could enhance the geometric collision rate of cloud droplets while large-scale air turbulence could augment the diffusional growth of cloud droplets. Air turbulence could also enhance the collision efficiency of cloud droplets. Accurate simulation of collision efficiency, however, requires capture of the multi-scale droplet-turbulence and droplet-droplet interactions, which has only been partially achieved in the recent past using the hybrid direct numerical simulation (HDNS) approach. % where Stokes disturbance flow is assumed. The HDNS approach has two major drawbacks: (1) the short-range droplet-droplet interaction is not treated rigorously; (2) the finite-Reynolds number correction to the collision efficiency is not included. In this talk, using two independent numerical methods, we will develop an interface-resolved simulation approach in which the disturbance flows are directly resolved numerically, combined with a rigorous lubrication correction model for near-field droplet-droplet interaction. This multi-scale approach is first used to study the effect of finite flow Reynolds numbers on the droplet collision efficiency in still air. Our simulation results show a significant finite-Re effect on collision efficiency when the droplets are of similar sizes. Preliminary results on integrating this approach in a turbulent flow laden with droplets will also be presented. This work is partially supported by the National Science Foundation.

Short range part of the NN interaction: Equivalent local potentials from quark exchange kernels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuk, Y.; Hecht, K.T.

1983-01-01

To focus on the nature of the short range part of the NN interaction, the intrinsically nonlocal interaction among the quark constituents of colorless nucleons is converted to an equivalent local potential using resonating group kernels which can be evaluated in analytic form. The WKB approximation based on the Wigner transform of the nonlocal kernels has been used to construct the equivalent potentials without recourse to the long range part of the NN interaction. The relative importance of the various components of the exchange kernels can be examined: The results indicate the importance of the color magnetic part of the exchange kernel for the repulsive part in the (ST) = (10), (01) channels, in particular since the energy dependence of the effective local potentials seems to be set by this term. Large cancellations of color Coulombic and quark confining contributions, together with the kinetic energy and norm exchange terms, indicate that the exact nature of the equivalent local potential may be sensitive to the details of the parametrization of the underlying quark-quark interaction. The equivalent local potentials show some of the characteristics of the phenomenological short range terms of the Paris potential

Cold H I clouds near the supernova remnant W44

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, F.

1986-01-01

The cold H I clouds near the supernova remnant W44 are investigated by the use of the Maryland-Green Bank Survey (Westerhout 1973). Several clouds with a mean diameter of about 20 pc are distributed in the region. They do not seem to make a shell around W44, contrary to the suggestion by Knapp and Kerr (1974) based on the low-resolution data at coarse grids. Some of them form a chain, about 100 pc in length, extending approximately along the galactic equator. It resembles the cold H I cloud near W3 and W4. The major constituent of the clouds is probably the hydrogen molecule, and the total mass of the entire complex amounts to 25,000 81,000 solar masses. The estimated Jeans mass indicates that they will contract to dense molecular clouds. Therefore, it may safely be concluded that the cold H1 cloud complex near W44 is a giant molecular cloud at an early evolutionary stage. 14 references

Cosmic rays linked to rapid mid-latitude cloud changes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. A. Laken

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The effect of the Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR flux on Earth's climate is highly uncertain. Using a novel sampling approach based around observing periods of significant cloud changes, a statistically robust relationship is identified between short-term GCR flux changes and the most rapid mid-latitude (60°–30° N/S cloud decreases operating over daily timescales; this signal is verified in surface level air temperature (SLAT reanalysis data. A General Circulation Model (GCM experiment is used to test the causal relationship of the observed cloud changes to the detected SLAT anomalies. Results indicate that the anomalous cloud changes were responsible for producing the observed SLAT changes, implying that if there is a causal relationship between significant decreases in the rate of GCR flux (~0.79 GU, where GU denotes a change of 1% of the 11-year solar cycle amplitude in four days and decreases in cloud cover (~1.9 CU, where CU denotes a change of 1% cloud cover in four days, an increase in SLAT (~0.05 KU, where KU denotes a temperature change of 1 K in four days can be expected. The influence of GCRs is clearly distinguishable from changes in solar irradiance and the interplanetary magnetic field. However, the results of the GCM experiment are found to be somewhat limited by the ability of the model to successfully reproduce observed cloud cover. These results provide perhaps the most compelling evidence presented thus far of a GCR-climate relationship. From this analysis we conclude that a GCR-climate relationship is governed by both short-term GCR changes and internal atmospheric precursor conditions.

"Black cloud" vs. "white cloud" physicians - Myth or reality in apheresis medicine?

Science.gov (United States)

Pham, Huy P; Raju, Dheeraj; Jiang, Ning; Williams, Lance A

2017-08-01

Many practitioners believe in the phenomenon of either being labeled a "black cloud" or "white cloud" while on-call. A "white-cloud" physician is one who usually gets fewer cases. A "black-cloud" is one who often has more cases. It is unclear if the designation is only superstitious or if there is some merit. Our aim is to objectively assess this phenomenon in apheresis medicine at our center. A one-year prospective study from 12/2014 to 11/2015 was designed to evaluate the number of times apheresis physicians and nurses were involved with emergent apheresis procedures between the hours from 10 PM and 7 AM. Other parameters collected include the names of the physician, apheresis nurse, type of emergent apheresis procedure, day of the week, and season of the year. During the study period, 32 emergent procedures (or "black-cloud" events) occurred. The median time between two consecutive events was 8 days (range: 1-34 days). We found no statistically significant association between the "black-cloud" events and attending physicians, nurses, day of the week, or season of the year by Chi-square and Fisher's analyses. However, exploratory analysis using association rule demonstrated that "black-cloud" events were more likely to happen on Thursday (2.19 times), with attending physician 2 (1.18 times), and during winter (1.15 times). The results of this pilot study may support the common perception that some physicians or nurses are either "black cloud" or "white cloud". A larger, multi-center study population is needed to validate the results of this pilot study. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Colisional Cloud Debris and Propelled Evasive Maneuvers

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, L. S.; Jesus, A. D. C.; Carvalho, T. C. F.; Sousa, R. R.

2017-10-01

Space debris clouds exist at various altitudes in the environment outside the Earth. Fragmentation of debris and/or collision between the debris of a cloud increases the amount of debris, producing smaller debris. This event also increases significantly the chances of collision with operational vehicles in orbit. In this work we study clouds of debris that are close to a spacecraft in relation to its distance from the center of the Earth. The results show several layers of colliding debris depending on their size over time of evasive maneuvers of the vehicle. In addition, we have tested such maneuvers for propulsion systems with a linear and exponential mass variation model. The results show that the linear propulsion system is more efficient.

Measured electric field intensities near electric cloud discharges detected by the Kennedy Space Center's Lightning Detection and Ranging System, LDAR

Science.gov (United States)

Poehler, H. A.

1977-01-01

For a summer thunderstorm, for which simultaneous, airborne electric field measurements and Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR) System data was available, measurements were coordinated to present a picture of the electric field intensity near cloud electrical discharges detected by the LDAR System. Radar precipitation echos from NOAA's 10 cm weather radar and measured airborne electric field intensities were superimposed on LDAR PPI plots to present a coordinated data picture of thunderstorm activity.

Engaging observers to look at clouds from both sides: connecting NASA mission science with authentic STEM experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, L. H.; Taylor, J.; Ellis, T. D.; McCrea, S.; Rogerson, T. M.; Falcon, P.

2016-12-01

In 1997, NASA's Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) team began engaging K-12 schools as ground truth observers of clouds. CERES seeks to understand cloud effects on Earth's energy budget; thus accurate detection and characterization of clouds is key. While satellite remote sensing provides global information about clouds, it is limited in time and resolution. Ground observers, on the other hand, can observe clouds at any time of day (and sometimes night), and can see small and thin clouds that are challenging to detect from space. In 2006, two active sensing satellites, CloudSat and CALIPSO, were launched into the A-Train, which already contained 2 CERES instruments on the Aqua spacecraft. The CloudSat team also engaged K-12 schools to observe clouds, through The GLOBE Program, with a specialized observation protocol customized for the narrow radar swath. While providing valuable data for satellite assessment, these activities also engage participants in accessible, authentic science that gets people outdoors, helps them develop observation skills, and is friendly to all ages. The effort has evolved substantially since 1997, adopting new technology to provide a more compelling experience to citizen observers. Those who report within 15 minutes of the passage of a wide range of satellites (Terra, Aqua, CloudSat, CALIPSO, NPP, as well as a number of geostationary satellites) are sent a satellite image centered on their location and are invited to extend the experience beyond simple observation to include analysis of the two different viewpoints. Over the years these projects have collected large amounts of cloud observations from every continent and ocean basin on Earth. A number of studies have been conducted comparing the ground observations to the satellite results. This presentation will provide an overview of those results and also describe plans for a coordinated, thematic cloud observation and data analysis activity going forward.

Case studies of radiation in the cloud-capped atmospheric boundary layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmetz, J.; Raschke, E.

1983-01-01

This review presents observations of marine stratocumulus obtained by the three research aircraft that participated in the Joint Air-Sea Interaction Project (JASIN). Detailed measurements were made of the thermodynamic, cloud physics and radiation fields for a uniform cloud sheet on 8 August 1978. These show a well mixed boundary layer with cloud liquid water contents close to their adiabatic values. The longwave and shortwave radiative components of the cloud layer energy budget were measured and good agreement was obtained between the observations and several radiation schemes. In particular, the measured cloud shortwave absorption was close to the theoretical values. Observations of shortwave fluxes made from the Falcon aircraft beneath broken stratocumulus are also shown and compared with calculations made by using a Monte Carlo model. It is concluded that the radiative cloud-cloud interactions do not play a dominant role in the bulk radiative properties of cloud fields. These are mainly determined by cloud amount and the vertical and horizontal optical depths of the clouds within the field. (author)

Combining 2-m temperature nowcasting and short range ensemble forecasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Kann

2011-12-01

Full Text Available During recent years, numerical ensemble prediction systems have become an important tool for estimating the uncertainties of dynamical and physical processes as represented in numerical weather models. The latest generation of limited area ensemble prediction systems (LAM-EPSs allows for probabilistic forecasts at high resolution in both space and time. However, these systems still suffer from systematic deficiencies. Especially for nowcasting (0–6 h applications the ensemble spread is smaller than the actual forecast error. This paper tries to generate probabilistic short range 2-m temperature forecasts by combining a state-of-the-art nowcasting method and a limited area ensemble system, and compares the results with statistical methods. The Integrated Nowcasting Through Comprehensive Analysis (INCA system, which has been in operation at the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG since 2006 (Haiden et al., 2011, provides short range deterministic forecasts at high temporal (15 min–60 min and spatial (1 km resolution. An INCA Ensemble (INCA-EPS of 2-m temperature forecasts is constructed by applying a dynamical approach, a statistical approach, and a combined dynamic-statistical method. The dynamical method takes uncertainty information (i.e. ensemble variance from the operational limited area ensemble system ALADIN-LAEF (Aire Limitée Adaptation Dynamique Développement InterNational Limited Area Ensemble Forecasting which is running operationally at ZAMG (Wang et al., 2011. The purely statistical method assumes a well-calibrated spread-skill relation and applies ensemble spread according to the skill of the INCA forecast of the most recent past. The combined dynamic-statistical approach adapts the ensemble variance gained from ALADIN-LAEF with non-homogeneous Gaussian regression (NGR which yields a statistical mbox{correction} of the first and second moment (mean bias and dispersion for Gaussian distributed continuous

Using ISCCP Weather States to Decompose Cloud Radiative Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Oreopoulos, L.; Rossow, W. B.

2012-01-01

The presentation will examine the shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) cloud radiative effect CRE (aka "cloud radiative forcing") at the top-of-the-atmosphere and surface of ISCCP weather states (aka "cloud regimes") in three distinct geographical zones, one tropical and two mid-latitude. Our goal is to understand and quantify the contribution of the different cloud regimes to the planetary radiation budget. In the tropics we find that the three most convectively active states are the ones with largest SW, LW and net TOA CRE contributions to the overall daytime tropical CRE budget. They account for 59%, 71% and 55% of the total CRE, respectively. The boundary layer-dominated weather states account for only 34% of the total SW CRE and 41% of the total net CRE, so to focus only on them in cloud feedback studies may be imprudent. We also find that in both the northern and southern midlatitude zones only two weather states, the first and third most convectively active with large amounts of nimbostratus-type clouds, contribute ",40% to both the SW and net TOA CRE budgets, highlighting the fact that cloud regimes associated with frontal systems are not only important for weather (precipitation) but also for climate (radiation budget). While all cloud regimes in all geographical zones have a slightly larger SFC than TOA SW CRE, implying cooling of the surface and slight warming of the atmosphere, their LW radiative effects are more subtle: in the tropics the weather states with plentiful high clouds warm the atmosphere while those with copious amounts of low clouds cool the atmosphere. In both midlatitude zones only the weather states with peak cloud fractions at levels above 440 mbar warm the atmosphere while all the rest cool it. These results make the connection of the contrasting CRE effects to the atmospheric dynamics more explicit - "storms" tend to warm the atmosphere whereas fair weather clouds cool it, suggesting a positive feedback of clouds on weather systems. The

Development of a cloud microphysical model and parameterizations to describe the effect of CCN on warm cloud

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Kuba

2006-01-01

Full Text Available First, a hybrid cloud microphysical model was developed that incorporates both Lagrangian and Eulerian frameworks to study quantitatively the effect of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN on the precipitation of warm clouds. A parcel model and a grid model comprise the cloud model. The condensation growth of CCN in each parcel is estimated in a Lagrangian framework. Changes in cloud droplet size distribution arising from condensation and coalescence are calculated on grid points using a two-moment bin method in a semi-Lagrangian framework. Sedimentation and advection are estimated in the Eulerian framework between grid points. Results from the cloud model show that an increase in the number of CCN affects both the amount and the area of precipitation. Additionally, results from the hybrid microphysical model and Kessler's parameterization were compared. Second, new parameterizations were developed that estimate the number and size distribution of cloud droplets given the updraft velocity and the number of CCN. The parameterizations were derived from the results of numerous numerical experiments that used the cloud microphysical parcel model. The input information of CCN for these parameterizations is only several values of CCN spectrum (they are given by CCN counter for example. It is more convenient than conventional parameterizations those need values concerned with CCN spectrum, C and k in the equation of N=CSk, or, breadth, total number and median radius, for example. The new parameterizations' predictions of initial cloud droplet size distribution for the bin method were verified by using the aforesaid hybrid microphysical model. The newly developed parameterizations will save computing time, and can effectively approximate components of cloud microphysics in a non-hydrostatic cloud model. The parameterizations are useful not only in the bin method in the regional cloud-resolving model but also both for a two-moment bulk microphysical model and

Functional framework and hardware platform for dependability study in short range wireless embedded systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Senouci, B.; Annema, Anne J.; Bentum, Marinus Jan; Kerkhoff, Hans G.

2011-01-01

A new direction in short-range wireless applications has appeared in the form of high-speed data communication devices for distances of a few meters. Behind these embedded applications, a complex Hardware/Software architecture is built. Dependability is one of the major challenges in these systems.

Cloud-Based Applications for Organizing and Reviewing Plastic Surgery Content.

Science.gov (United States)

Luan, Anna; Momeni, Arash; Lee, Gordon K; Galvez, Michael G

2015-01-01

Cloud-based applications including Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, Notability, and Zotero are available for smartphones, tablets, and laptops and have revolutionized the manner in which medical students and surgeons read and utilize plastic surgery literature. Here we provide an overview of the use of Cloud computing in practice and propose an algorithm for organizing the vast amount of plastic surgery literature. Given the incredible amount of data being produced in plastic surgery and other surgical subspecialties, it is prudent for plastic surgeons to lead the process of providing solutions for the efficient organization and effective integration of the ever-increasing data into clinical practice.

Cloud Computing Security: A Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Issa M. Khalil

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Cloud computing is an emerging technology paradigm that migrates current technological and computing concepts into utility-like solutions similar to electricity and water systems. Clouds bring out a wide range of benefits including configurable computing resources, economic savings, and service flexibility. However, security and privacy concerns are shown to be the primary obstacles to a wide adoption of clouds. The new concepts that clouds introduce, such as multi-tenancy, resource sharing and outsourcing, create new challenges to the security community. Addressing these challenges requires, in addition to the ability to cultivate and tune the security measures developed for traditional computing systems, proposing new security policies, models, and protocols to address the unique cloud security challenges. In this work, we provide a comprehensive study of cloud computing security and privacy concerns. We identify cloud vulnerabilities, classify known security threats and attacks, and present the state-of-the-art practices to control the vulnerabilities, neutralize the threats, and calibrate the attacks. Additionally, we investigate and identify the limitations of the current solutions and provide insights of the future security perspectives. Finally, we provide a cloud security framework in which we present the various lines of defense and identify the dependency levels among them. We identify 28 cloud security threats which we classify into five categories. We also present nine general cloud attacks along with various attack incidents, and provide effectiveness analysis of the proposed countermeasures.

Relationship between cloud radiative forcing, cloud fraction and cloud albedo, and new surface-based approach for determining cloud albedo

OpenAIRE

Y. Liu; W. Wu; M. P. Jensen; T. Toto

2011-01-01

This paper focuses on three interconnected topics: (1) quantitative relationship between surface shortwave cloud radiative forcing, cloud fraction, and cloud albedo; (2) surfaced-based approach for measuring cloud albedo; (3) multiscale (diurnal, annual and inter-annual) variations and covariations of surface shortwave cloud radiative forcing, cloud fraction, and cloud albedo. An analytical expression is first derived to quantify the relationship between cloud radiative forcing, cloud fractio...

Revision to dedicated short range communication roadside equipment specification - RSU 4.1.Bench Test Plan.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-04-28

The document describes the overall process for evaluating Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) Roadside Units (RSU) against USDOT RSU Specification 4.1 in preparation for field evaluation. The Test Cases contained in this document only evaluate...

Cloud computing for data-intensive applications

CERN Document Server

Li, Xiaolin

2014-01-01

This book presents a range of cloud computing platforms for data-intensive scientific applications. It covers systems that deliver infrastructure as a service, including: HPC as a service; virtual networks as a service; scalable and reliable storage; algorithms that manage vast cloud resources and applications runtime; and programming models that enable pragmatic programming and implementation toolkits for eScience applications. Many scientific applications in clouds are also introduced, such as bioinformatics, biology, weather forecasting and social networks. Most chapters include case studie

CLOUD TECHNOLOGY AS A WAY OF UKRAINIAN EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Zaytseva

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This article is devoted to defining the forms and the required components cloud technology usage during studying of subject teachers. In order to improve the learning process it’s necessary to use such powerful technology as ‘cloud computing’. They support traditional forms of education and also are a new step in the development of education. Cloud technologies are-effective, efficient and flexible way to satisfy the needs of students during getting of new knowledge. Nowadays a characteristic feature of our time is rapid growing of using cloud technology. That is why we are spectators of implementation of cloud technologies and services in the system of higher and secondary education, too. A common information space in education using mostly cloud technologies that provide Microsoft and Google is creating now. Google Apps for Education containing free tools that allows teachers and students to communicate, teach and learn more effectively and efficiently. Significant advantage of using cloud services is providing application development and storage of large amounts of data on servers in distributed information processing centers via the Internet. That is why cloud technology is a powerful tool to activate students' self-guidance work. Surely, growing demand for professionals who knows the technology of cloud computing will increase slowly.

Competition between core and periphery-based processes in warm convective clouds – from invigoration to suppression

OpenAIRE

G. Dagan; I. Koren; O. Altaratz

2015-01-01

How do changes in the amount and properties of aerosol affect warm clouds? Recent studies suggest that they have opposing effects. Some suggest that an increase in aerosol loading leads to enhanced evaporation and therefore smaller clouds, whereas other studies suggest clouds' invigoration. In this study, using an axisymmetric bin-microphysics cloud model, we propose a theoretical scheme that analyzes the evolution of key processes in warm clouds, under different aerosol loa...

Programming Microsoft's Clouds Windows Azure and Office 365

CERN Document Server

Rizzo, Thomas; van Otegem, Michiel; Bishop, Darrin; Durzi, George; Tejada, Zoiner; Mann, David

2012-01-01

A detailed look at a diverse set of Cloud topics, particularly Azure and Office 365 More and more companies are realizing the power and potential of Cloud computing as a viable way to save energy and money. This valuable book offers an in-depth look at a wide range of Cloud topics unlike any other book on the market. Examining how Cloud services allows users to pay as they go for exactly what they use, this guide explains how companies can easily scale their Cloud use up and down to fit their business requirements. After an introduction to Cloud computing, you'll discover how to prepare your e

Economic model of a cloud provider operating in a federated cloud

OpenAIRE

Goiri Presa, Íñigo; Guitart Fernández, Jordi; Torres Viñals, Jordi

2012-01-01

Resource provisioning in Cloud providers is a challenge because of the high variability of load over time. On the one hand, the providers can serve most of the requests owning only a restricted amount of resources, but this forces to reject customers during peak hours. On the other hand, valley hours incur in under-utilization of the resources, which forces the providers to increase their prices to be profitable. Federation overcomes these limitations and allows pro...

Dynamic resource allocation engine for cloud-based real-time video transcoding in mobile cloud computing environments

Science.gov (United States)

Adedayo, Bada; Wang, Qi; Alcaraz Calero, Jose M.; Grecos, Christos

2015-02-01

The recent explosion in video-related Internet traffic has been driven by the widespread use of smart mobile devices, particularly smartphones with advanced cameras that are able to record high-quality videos. Although many of these devices offer the facility to record videos at different spatial and temporal resolutions, primarily with local storage considerations in mind, most users only ever use the highest quality settings. The vast majority of these devices are optimised for compressing the acquired video using a single built-in codec and have neither the computational resources nor battery reserves to transcode the video to alternative formats. This paper proposes a new low-complexity dynamic resource allocation engine for cloud-based video transcoding services that are both scalable and capable of being delivered in real-time. Firstly, through extensive experimentation, we establish resource requirement benchmarks for a wide range of transcoding tasks. The set of tasks investigated covers the most widely used input formats (encoder type, resolution, amount of motion and frame rate) associated with mobile devices and the most popular output formats derived from a comprehensive set of use cases, e.g. a mobile news reporter directly transmitting videos to the TV audience of various video format requirements, with minimal usage of resources both at the reporter's end and at the cloud infrastructure end for transcoding services.

A Secure Authenticate Framework for Cloud Computing Environment

OpenAIRE

Nitin Nagar; Pradeep k. Jatav

2014-01-01

Cloud computing has an important aspect for the companies to build and deploy their infrastructure and application. Data Storage service in the cloud computing is easy as compare to the other data storage services. At the same time, cloud security in the cloud environment is challenging task. Security issues ranging from missing system configuration, lack of proper updates, or unwise user actions from remote data storage. It can expose user’s private data and information to unwanted access. i...

short communication determination of trace amounts of zinc by flame

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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Zinc ions were separated by solid phase extraction onto modified natural ... short analysis time, high enrichment factor, low cost and consumption of organic ... Up to now, several kinds of sorbents, such as thiol cotton [18], activated carbon [19],.

Cloud cover over the equatorial eastern Pacific derived from July 1983 International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project data using a hybrid bispectral threshold method

Science.gov (United States)

Minnis, Patrick; Harrison, Edwin F.; Gibson, Gary G.

1987-01-01

A set of visible and IR data obtained with GOES from July 17-31, 1983 is analyzed using a modified version of the hybrid bispectral threshold method developed by Minnis and Harrison (1984). This methodology can be divided into a set of procedures or optional techniques to determine the proper contaminate clear-sky temperature or IR threshold. The various optional techniques are described; the options are: standard, low-temperature limit, high-reflectance limit, low-reflectance limit, coldest pixel and thermal adjustment limit, IR-only low-cloud temperature limit, IR clear-sky limit, and IR overcast limit. Variations in the cloud parameters and the characteristics and diurnal cycles of trade cumulus and stratocumulus clouds over the eastern equatorial Pacific are examined. It is noted that the new method produces substantial changes in about one third of the cloud amount retrieval; and low cloud retrievals are affected most by the new constraints.

Using a space filling curve approach for the management of dynamic point clouds

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Psomadaki, S; van Oosterom, P.J.M.; Tijssen, T.P.M.; Baart, F.

2016-01-01

Point cloud usage has increased over the years. The development of low-cost sensors makes it now possible to acquire frequent point cloud measurements on a short time period (day, hour, second). Based on the requirements coming from the coastal monitoring domain, we have developed, implemented and

Research on cloud-based remote measurement and analysis system

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Zhiqiang; He, Lingsong; Su, Wei; Wang, Can; Zhang, Changfan

2015-02-01

The promising potential of cloud computing and its convergence with technologies such as cloud storage, cloud push, mobile computing allows for creation and delivery of newer type of cloud service. Combined with the thought of cloud computing, this paper presents a cloud-based remote measurement and analysis system. This system mainly consists of three parts: signal acquisition client, web server deployed on the cloud service, and remote client. This system is a special website developed using asp.net and Flex RIA technology, which solves the selective contradiction between two monitoring modes, B/S and C/S. This platform supplies customer condition monitoring and data analysis service by Internet, which was deployed on the cloud server. Signal acquisition device is responsible for data (sensor data, audio, video, etc.) collection and pushes the monitoring data to the cloud storage database regularly. Data acquisition equipment in this system is only conditioned with the function of data collection and network function such as smartphone and smart sensor. This system's scale can adjust dynamically according to the amount of applications and users, so it won't cause waste of resources. As a representative case study, we developed a prototype system based on Ali cloud service using the rotor test rig as the research object. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system architecture is feasible.

A first-principles study of short range order in Cu-Zn

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slutter, M.; Turchi, P.E.A.; Johnson, D.D.; Nicholson, D.M.; Stocks, G.M.; Pinski, F.J.

1990-01-01

Recently, measurements of short-range order (SRO) diffuse neutron scattering intensity have been performed on quenched Cu-Zn alloys with 22.4 to 31.1 atomic percent (a/o) Zn, and pair interactions were obtained by inverse Monte Carlo simulation. These results are compared to SRO intensities and effective pair interactions obtained from first-principles electronic structure calculations. The theoretical SRO intensities were calculated with the cluster variation method (CVM) in the tetrahedron-octahedron approximation with first-principles pain interactions as input. More generally, phase stability in the Cu-Zn alloy system is discussed, using ab-initio energetic properties

Anomalous X-ray scattering studies of short-, intermediate- and extended-range order in glasses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, D.L.; Saboungi, M.L.; Armand, P.; Cox, D.E.

1998-01-01

The authors present the formalism of anomalous x-ray scattering as applied to partial structure analysis of disordered materials, and give an example of how the technique has been applied, together with that of neutron diffraction, to investigate short-, intermediate- and extended-range order in vitreous germania and rubidium germanate

IRAS constraints on a cold cloud around the solar system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aumann, H.H.; Good, J.C.

1990-01-01

IRAS 60- and 100-micron observations of G-stars in the solar neighborhood indicate that the typical G star is surrounded by a cold cloud. The assumption that the sun is archetypical requires that a cloud of typical G star extent and temperature surrounds our solar system. IRAS ecliptic plane scans, which are dominated by a 40-deg wide band of zodiacal dust, asteroid debris trails, and the Galactic plane, are consistent with a larger than typical G star cold cloud. Consistency with the typical G star and the direct observations constrain the width of the cold cloud perpendicular to the ecliptic plane to be larger than 5 deg. The 100-150 AU radius of this cloud is larger, but not inconsistent with the inner boundary of a cloud of comets, postulated previously at a radius of 50 AU based on Neptune orbital perturbations and models of short period comets. 17 refs

Final Technical Report for Project 'Improving the Simulation of Arctic Clouds in CCSM3 (SGER Award)'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vavrus, Stephen J.

2008-01-01

This project has focused on the simulation of Arctic clouds in CCSM3 and how the modeled cloud amount (and climate) can be improved substantially by altering the parameterized low cloud fraction. The new formula, dubbed 'freeezedry', alleviates the bias of excessive low clouds during polar winter by reducing the cloud amount under very dry conditions. During winter, freezedry decreases the low cloud amount over the coldest regions in high latitudes by over 50% locally and more than 30% averaged across the Arctic (Fig. 1). The cloud reduction causes an Arctic-wide drop of 15 W m -2 in surface cloud radiative forcing (CRF) during winter and about a 50% decrease in mean annual Arctic CRF. Consequently, wintertime surface temperatures fall by up to 4 K on land and 2-8 K over the Arctic Ocean, thus significantly reducing the model's pronounced warm bias (Fig. 1). While improving the polar climate simulation in CCSM3, freezedry has virtually no influence outside of very cold regions (Fig. 2) or during summer (Fig. 3), which are space and time domains that were not targeted. Furthermore, the simplicity of this parameterization allows it to be readily incorporated into other GCMs, many of which also suffer from excessive wintertime polar cloudiness, based on the results from the CMIP3 archive (Vavrus et al., 2008). Freezedry also affects CCSM3's sensitivity to greenhouse forcing. In a transient-CO 2 experiment, the model version with freezedry warms up to 20% less in the North Polar and South Polar regions (1.5 K and 0.5 K smaller warming, respectively) (Fig. 4). Paradoxically, the muted high-latitude response occurs despite a much larger increase in cloud amount with freezedry during non-summer months (when clouds warm the surface), apparently because of the colder modern reference climate. These results of the freezedry parameterization have recently been published (Vavrus and D. Waliser, 2008: An improved parameterization for simulating Arctic cloud amount in the CCSM3

Control of strength and stability of emulsion-gels by a combination of long- and short-range interactions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blijdenstein, T.B.J.; Hendriks, W.P.G.; Linden, van der E.; Vliet, van T.; Aken, van G.A.

2003-01-01

This paper discusses the change in phase behavior and mechanical properties of oil-in-water emulsion gels brought about by variation of long- and short-range attractive interactions. The model system studied consisted of oil droplets stabilized by the protein -lactoglobulin (-lg). A long-range

Short-range structure and thermal properties of barium tellurite glasses

Science.gov (United States)

Kaur, Amarjot; Khanna, Atul; Gonzàlez, Fernando

2017-05-01

BaO-TeO2 glasses containing 10 to 20 BaO mol% were prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction, density measurements, differential scanning calorimetry and Raman spectroscopy. Glass density decreases with increase in BaO concentration from 10 to 20 mol%, due to replacement of heavier TeO2 by lighter BaO, however glass transition temperature (Tg) increases significantly from a value of 318°C to 327°C due to increase in average single bond enthalpy of the tellurite network. Raman studies found that glass short-range structure consists of TeO4 and TeO3 structural units and BaO modifies the network by producing the structural transformation: TeO4→ TeO3.

Cloud microphysics and aerosol indirect effects in the global climate model ECHAM5-HAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U. Lohmann

2007-07-01

Full Text Available The double-moment cloud microphysics scheme from ECHAM4 that predicts both the mass mixing ratios and number concentrations of cloud droplets and ice crystals has been coupled to the size-resolved aerosol scheme ECHAM5-HAM. ECHAM5-HAM predicts the aerosol mass, number concentrations and mixing state. The simulated liquid, ice and total water content and the cloud droplet and ice crystal number concentrations as a function of temperature in stratiform mixed-phase clouds between 0 and −35° C agree much better with aircraft observations in the ECHAM5 simulations. ECHAM5 performs better because more realistic aerosol concentrations are available for cloud droplet nucleation and because the Bergeron-Findeisen process is parameterized as being more efficient.

The total anthropogenic aerosol effect includes the direct, semi-direct and indirect effects and is defined as the difference in the top-of-the-atmosphere net radiation between present-day and pre-industrial times. It amounts to −1.9 W m⁻² in ECHAM5, when a relative humidity dependent cloud cover scheme and aerosol emissions representative for the years 1750 and 2000 from the AeroCom emission inventory are used. The contribution of the cloud albedo effect amounts to −0.7 W m⁻². The total anthropogenic aerosol effect is larger when either a statistical cloud cover scheme or a different aerosol emission inventory are employed because the cloud lifetime effect increases.

Opaque cloud detection

Science.gov (United States)

Roskovensky, John K [Albuquerque, NM

2009-01-20

A method of detecting clouds in a digital image comprising, for an area of the digital image, determining a reflectance value in at least three discrete electromagnetic spectrum bands, computing a first ratio of one reflectance value minus another reflectance value and the same two values added together, computing a second ratio of one reflectance value and another reflectance value, choosing one of the reflectance values, and concluding that an opaque cloud exists in the area if the results of each of the two computing steps and the choosing step fall within three corresponding predetermined ranges.

Tropical cloud and precipitation regimes as seen from near-simultaneous TRMM, CloudSat, and CALIPSO observations and comparison with ISCCP

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Zhengzhao Johnny; Anderson, Ricardo C.; Rossow, William B.; Takahashi, Hanii

2017-06-01

Although Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and CloudSat/CALIPSO fly in different orbits, they frequently cross each other so that for the period between 2006 and 2010, a total of 15,986 intersect lines occurred within 20 min of each other from 30°S to 30°N, providing a rare opportunity to study tropical cloud and precipitation regimes and their internal vertical structure from near-simultaneous measurements by these active sensors. A k-means cluster analysis of TRMM and CloudSat matchups identifies three tropical cloud and precipitation regimes: the first two regimes correspond to, respectively, organized deep convection with heavy rain and cirrus anvils with moderate rain; the third regime is a convectively suppressed regime that can be further divided into three subregimes, which correspond to, respectively, stratocumulus clouds with drizzle, cirrus overlying low clouds, and nonprecipitating cumulus. Inclusion of CALIPSO data adds to the dynamic range of cloud properties and identifies one more cluster; subcluster analysis further identifies a thin, midlevel cloud regime associated with tropical mountain ranges. The radar-lidar cloud regimes are compared with the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) weather states (WSs) for the extended tropics. Focus is placed on the four convectively active WSs, namely, WS1-WS4. ISCCP WS1 and WS2 are found to be counterparts of Regime 1 and Regime 2 in radar-lidar observations, respectively. ISCCP WS3 and WS4, which are mainly isolated convection and broken, detached cirrus, do not have a strong association with any individual radar and lidar regimes, a likely effect of the different sampling strategies between ISCCP and active sensors and patchy cloudiness of these WSs.

Hydroxyl temperature and intensity measurements during noctilucent cloud displays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. J. Taylor

1995-10-01

Full Text Available Two Fourier transform spectrometers have been used to investigate the properties of the near-infrared hydroxyl (OH nightglow emission under high-latitude summertime conditions and any association with noctilucent clouds (NLCs. The measurements were made from Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska (65.1°N, 147.5°W, during August 1986. Simultaneous photographic observations of the northern twilight sky were made from Gulkana, Alaska (62.2°N, 145.5°W, approximately 340 km to the south to establish the presence of NLCs over the spectrometer site. Data exhibiting significant short-term variations in the relative intensity (as much as 50–100% and rotational temperature (typically 5–15 K were recorded on six occasions when NLCs were observed. Joint measurements were also obtained on several "cloud-free" nights. No obvious relationship was found linking the mean OH intensity or its variation with the occurrence of NLCs. However, a clear tendency was found for the mean OH temperature to be lower on NLC nights than on cloud-free nights. In particular, a significant fraction of the OH(3–1 band spectra recorded by each instrument (16–57% exhibited temperatures below ~154 K on NLC nights compared with <3% on cloud-free nights. This result is qualitatively consistent with current models for ice particle nucleation and growth, but the mean OH temperature on NLC nights (~156 K was significantly higher than would be expected for long-term particle growth in this region. These observations raise questions concerning the expected proximity of the high-latitude, summertime OH layer and the NLC growth region.

Hydroxyl temperature and intensity measurements during noctilucent cloud displays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. J. Taylor

Full Text Available Two Fourier transform spectrometers have been used to investigate the properties of the near-infrared hydroxyl (OH nightglow emission under high-latitude summertime conditions and any association with noctilucent clouds (NLCs. The measurements were made from Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska (65.1°N, 147.5°W, during August 1986. Simultaneous photographic observations of the northern twilight sky were made from Gulkana, Alaska (62.2°N, 145.5°W, approximately 340 km to the south to establish the presence of NLCs over the spectrometer site. Data exhibiting significant short-term variations in the relative intensity (as much as 50–100% and rotational temperature (typically 5–15 K were recorded on six occasions when NLCs were observed. Joint measurements were also obtained on several "cloud-free" nights. No obvious relationship was found linking the mean OH intensity or its variation with the occurrence of NLCs. However, a clear tendency was found for the mean OH temperature to be lower on NLC nights than on cloud-free nights. In particular, a significant fraction of the OH(3–1 band spectra recorded by each instrument (16–57% exhibited temperatures below ~154 K on NLC nights compared with <3% on cloud-free nights. This result is qualitatively consistent with current models for ice particle nucleation and growth, but the mean OH temperature on NLC nights (~156 K was significantly higher than would be expected for long-term particle growth in this region. These observations raise questions concerning the expected proximity of the high-latitude, summertime OH layer and the NLC growth region.

Effect of remote clouds on surface UV irradiance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deguenther, M.; Meerkoetter, R. [Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Wessling (Germany). Inst. fuer Physik der Atmosphaere

2000-06-01

Clouds affect local surface UV irradiance, even if the horizontal distance from the radiation observation site amounts to several kilometers. In order to investigate this effect, which we call remote clouds effect, a 3-dimensional radiative transfer model is applied. Assuming the atmosphere is subdivided into a quadratic based sector and its surrounding, we quantify the influence of changing cloud coverage within this surrounding from 0% to 100% on surface UV irradiance at the sector center. To work out this remote clouds influence as a function of sector base size, we made some calculations for different sizes between 10 km x 10 km and 100 km x 100 km. It appears that in the case of small sectors (base size {<=}20 km x 20 km) the remote clouds effect is highly variable: Depending on cloud structure, solar zenith angle and wavelength, the surface UV irradiance may be enhanced up to 15% as well as reduced by more than 50%. In contrast, for larger sectors it is always the case that enhancements become smaller by 5% if sector base size exceeds 60 km x 60 km. However, these values are upper estimates of the remote cloud effects and they are found only for special cloud structures. Since these structures might occur but cannot be regarded as typical, different satellite observed cloud formations (horizontal resolution about 1 km x 1 km) have also been investigated. For these more common cloud distributions we find remote cloud effects to be distinctly smaller than the corresponding upper estimates, e.g., for a sector with base size of 25 km x 25 km the surface UV irradiance error due to ignoring the actual remote clouds and replacing their influence with periodic horizontal boundary conditions is less than 3%, whereas the upper estimate of remote clouds effect would suggest an error close to 10%. (orig.)

Formation of Silicate and Titanium Clouds on Hot Jupiters

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Diana; Zhang, Xi; Gao, Peter; Parmentier, Vivien

2018-06-01

We present the first application of a bin-scheme microphysical and vertical transport model to determine the size distribution of titanium and silicate cloud particles in the atmospheres of hot Jupiters. We predict particle size distributions from first principles for a grid of planets at four representative equatorial longitudes, and investigate how observed cloud properties depend on the atmospheric thermal structure and vertical mixing. The predicted size distributions are frequently bimodal and irregular in shape. There is a negative correlation between the total cloud mass and equilibrium temperature as well as a positive correlation between the total cloud mass and atmospheric mixing. The cloud properties on the east and west limbs show distinct differences that increase with increasing equilibrium temperature. Cloud opacities are roughly constant across a broad wavelength range, with the exception of features in the mid-infrared. Forward-scattering is found to be important across the same wavelength range. Using the fully resolved size distribution of cloud particles as opposed to a mean particle size has a distinct impact on the resultant cloud opacities. The particle size that contributes the most to the cloud opacity depends strongly on the cloud particle size distribution. We predict that it is unlikely that silicate or titanium clouds are responsible for the optical Rayleigh scattering slope seen in many hot Jupiters. We suggest that cloud opacities in emission may serve as sensitive tracers of the thermal state of a planet’s deep interior through the existence or lack of a cold trap in the deep atmosphere.

Green symbiotic cloud communications

CERN Document Server

Mustafa, H D; Desai, Uday B; Baveja, Brij Mohan

2017-01-01

This book intends to change the perception of modern day telecommunications. Communication systems, usually perceived as “dumb pipes”, carrying information / data from one point to another, are evolved into intelligently communicating smart systems. The book introduces a new field of cloud communications. The concept, theory, and architecture of this new field of cloud communications are discussed. The book lays down nine design postulates that form the basis of the development of a first of its kind cloud communication paradigm entitled Green Symbiotic Cloud Communications or GSCC. The proposed design postulates are formulated in a generic way to form the backbone for development of systems and technologies of the future. The book can be used to develop courses that serve as an essential part of graduate curriculum in computer science and electrical engineering. Such courses can be independent or part of high-level research courses. The book will also be of interest to a wide range of readers including b...

The role of the form factor and short-range correlation in the relativistic Hartree-Fock model for nuclear matter

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, J.; Toki, H.; Wen, W.; Shen, H.

2010-03-01

The role of the form factor and short-range correlation in nuclear matter is studied within the relativistic Hartree-Fock approximation. We take, first, the mean-field approximation for meson fields and obtain the fluctuation terms of mesons to be used for the Fock energies. We introduce form factors in the meson-nucleon coupling vertices to take into account the finite-size effect of the nucleon. We use further the unitary correlation operator method for the treatment of the short-range correlation. The form factors of the size ( Λ ˜ 1.0 -2.0GeV) of the nucleon-nucleon interaction cut down largely the contribution of the ρ -meson in the Fock term. The short-range correlation effect is not large but has a significant effect on the pion and ρ -meson energies in the relativistic Hartree-Fock approximation for nuclear matter.

What does it take to build a medium scale scientific cloud to process significant amounts of Earth observation data?

Science.gov (United States)

Hollstein, André; Diedrich, Hannes; Spengler, Daniel

2017-04-01

The installment of the operational fleet of Sentinels by Copernicus offers an unprecedented influx of freely available Earth Observation data with Sentinel-2 being a great example. It offers a broad range of land applications due to its high spatial sampling from 10 m to 20 m and its multi-spectral imaging capabilities with 13 spectral bands. The open access policy allows unrestricted use by everybody and provides data downloads for on the respective sites. For a small area of interest and shorter time series, data processing, and exploitation can easily be done manually. However, for multi-temporal analysis of larger areas, the data size can quickly increase such that it is not manageable in practice on a personal computer which leads to an increasing interest in central data exploitation platforms. Prominent examples are GoogleEarth Engine, NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) or current developments such as CODE-DE in Germany. Open standards are still evolving, and the choice of a platform may create lock-in scenarios and a situation where scientists are not anymore in full control of all aspects of their analysis. Securing intellectual properties of researchers can become a major issue in the future. Partnering with a startup company that is dedicated to providing tools for farm management and precision farming, GFZ builds a small-scale science cloud named GTS2 for processing and distribution of Sentinel-2 data. The service includes a sophisticated atmospheric correction algorithm, spatial co-registration of time series data, as well as a web API for data distribution. This approach is different from the drag to centralized research using infrastructures controlled by others. By keeping the full licensing rights, it allows developing new business models independent from the initially chosen processing provider. Currently, data is held for the greater German area but is extendable to larger areas on short notice due to a scalable distributed network file system. For a

A Review on Broker Based Cloud Service Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nagarajan Rajganesh

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Cloud computing emerged as a utility oriented computing that facilitates resource sharing under pay-as-you-go model. Nowadays, cloud offerings are not limited to range of services and anything can be shared as a service through the Internet. In this work, a detailed literature survey with respect to cloud service discovery and composition has been accounted. A proposed architecture with the inclusion of cloud broker is presented in our work. It focuses the importance of suitable service selection and its ranking towards fulfilling the customer’s service requirements. The proposed cloud broker advocates techniques such as reasoning and decision making capabilities for the improved cloud service selection and composition.

Precipitation-generated oscillations in open cellular cloud fields.

Science.gov (United States)

Feingold, Graham; Koren, Ilan; Wang, Hailong; Xue, Huiwen; Brewer, Wm Alan

2010-08-12

Cloud fields adopt many different patterns that can have a profound effect on the amount of sunlight reflected back to space, with important implications for the Earth's climate. These cloud patterns can be observed in satellite images of the Earth and often exhibit distinct cell-like structures associated with organized convection at scales of tens of kilometres. Recent evidence has shown that atmospheric aerosol particles-through their influence on precipitation formation-help to determine whether cloud fields take on closed (more reflective) or open (less reflective) cellular patterns. The physical mechanisms controlling the formation and evolution of these cells, however, are still poorly understood, limiting our ability to simulate realistically the effects of clouds on global reflectance. Here we use satellite imagery and numerical models to show how precipitating clouds produce an open cellular cloud pattern that oscillates between different, weakly stable states. The oscillations are a result of precipitation causing downward motion and outflow from clouds that were previously positively buoyant. The evaporating precipitation drives air down to the Earth's surface, where it diverges and collides with the outflows of neighbouring precipitating cells. These colliding outflows form surface convergence zones and new cloud formation. In turn, the newly formed clouds produce precipitation and new colliding outflow patterns that are displaced from the previous ones. As successive cycles of this kind unfold, convergence zones alternate with divergence zones and new cloud patterns emerge to replace old ones. The result is an oscillating, self-organized system with a characteristic cell size and precipitation frequency.

Subtropical Low Cloud Response to a Warmer Climate in an Superparameterized Climate Model: Part I. Regime Sorting and Physical Mechanisms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter N Blossey

2009-07-01

Full Text Available The subtropical low cloud response to a climate with SST uniformly warmed by 2 K is analyzed in the SP- CAM superparameterized climate model, in which each grid column is replaced by a two-dimensional cloud-resolving model (CRM. Intriguingly, SP-CAM shows substantial low cloud increases over the subtropical oceans in the warmer climate. The paper aims to understand the mechanism for these increases. The subtropical low cloud increase is analyzed by sorting grid-column months of the climate model into composite cloud regimes using percentile ranges of lower tropospheric stability (LTS. LTS is observed to be well correlated to subtropical low cloud amount and boundary layer vertical structure. The low cloud increase in SP-CAM is attributed to boundary-layer destabilization due to increased clear-sky radiative cooling in the warmer climate. This drives more shallow cumulus convection and a moister boundary layer, inducing cloud increases and further increasing the radiative cooling. The boundary layer depth does not change substantially, due to compensation between increased radiative cooling (which promotes more turbulent mixing and boundary-layer deepening and slight strengthening of the boundary-layer top inversion (which inhibits turbulent entrainment and promotes a shallower boundary layer. The widespread changes in low clouds do not appear to be driven by changes in mean subsidence.
In a companion paper we use column-mode CRM simulations based on LTS-composite profiles to further study the low cloud response mechanisms and to explore the sensitivity of low cloud response to grid resolution in SP-CAM.