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Microwave signatures of ice hydrometeors from ground-based observations above Summit, Greenland
Multi-instrument, ground-based measurements provide unique and comprehensive
data sets of the atmosphere for a specific location over long periods of time
and resulting data compliment past and existing global satellite
observations. This paper explores the effect of ice hydrometeors on
ground-based, high-frequency passive microwave measurements and attempts to
isolate an ice signature for summer seasons at Summit, Greenland, from 2010
to 2013. Data from a combination of passive microwave, cloud radar,
radiosonde, and ceilometer were examined to isolate the ice signature at
microwave wavelengths. By limiting the study to a cloud liquid water path of
40 g m−2 or less, the cloud radar can identify cases where the
precipitation was dominated by ice. These cases were examined using liquid
water and gas microwave absorption models, and brightness temperatures were
calculated for the high-frequency microwave channels: 90, 150, and 225 GHz.
By comparing the measured brightness temperatures from the microwave
radiometers and the calculated brightness temperature using only gas and
liquid contributions, any residual brightness temperature difference is due
to emission and scattering of microwave radiation from the ice hydrometeors
in the column. The ice signature in the 90, 150, and 225 GHz channels for
the Summit Station summer months was isolated. This measured ice signature
was then compared to an equivalent brightness temperature difference
calculated with a radiative transfer model including microwave
single-scattering properties for several ice habits. Initial model results
compare well against the 4 years of summer season isolated ice signature in
the high-frequency microwave channels
The Bright SHARC Survey: The Cluster Catalog
We present the Bright SHARC (Serendipitous High-Redshift Archival ROSAT
Cluster) Survey, which is an objective search for serendipitously detected
extended X-ray sources in 460 deep ROSAT PSPC pointings. The Bright SHARC
Survey covers an area of 178.6 sq.deg and has yielded 374 extended sources. We
discuss the X-ray data reduction, the candidate selection and present results
from our on-going optical follow-up campaign. The optical follow-up
concentrates on the brightest 94 of the 374 extended sources and is now 97%
complete. We have identified thirty-seven clusters of galaxies, for which we
present redshifts and luminosities. The clusters span a redshift range of
0.0696<z<0.83 and a luminosity range of 0.065<Lx<8.3e44 erg/s [0.5-2.0 keV]
(assuming Ho = 50 km/s/Mpc and qo=0.5). Twelve of the clusters have redshifts
greater than z=0.3, eight of which are at luminosities brighter than Lx=3e44
erg/s. Seventeen of the 37 optically confirmed Bright SHARC clusters have not
been listed in any previously published catalog. We also report the discovery
of three candidate ``fossil groups'' of the kind proposed by Ponman et al.
(1994).Comment: Minor revisions: References updated and typos corrected. Shortened by
use of emulateapj.st
Absorption Coefficient (ABSCO) Tables for the Orbiting Carbon Observatories: Version 5.1
The accuracy of atmospheric trace gas retrievals depends directly on the accuracy of the molecular absorption model used within the retrieval algorithm. For remote sensing of well-mixed gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), where the atmospheric variability is small compared to the background, the quality of the molecular absorption model is key. Recent updates to oxygen (O₂) absorption coefficients (ABSCO) for the 0.76 μm A-band and the water vapor (H₂O) continuum model within the 1.6 μm and 2.06 μm CO₂ bands used within the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2 and OCO-3) algorithm are described here. Updates in the O₂ A-band involve the inclusion of new laboratory measurements within multispectrum fits to improve relative consistency between O₂ line shapes and collision-induced absorption (CIA). The H₂O continuum model has been updated to MTCKD v3.2, which has benefited from information from a range of laboratory studies relative to the model utilized in the previous ABSCO version. Impacts of these spectroscopy updates have been evaluated against ground-based atmospheric spectra from the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) and within the framework of the OCO-2 algorithm, using OCO-2 soundings covering a range of atmospheric and surface conditions. The updated absorption coefficients (ABSCO version 5.1) are found to offer improved fitting residuals and reduced biases in retrieved surface pressure relative to the previous version (ABSCO v5.0) used within B8 and B9 of the OCO-2 retrieval algorithm and have been adopted for the OCO B10 Level 2 algorithm
Colors of 2625 Quasars at 0<z<5 Measured in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Photometric System
We present an empirical investigation of the colors of quasars in the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) photometric system. The sample studied includes 2625
quasars with SDSS photometry. The quasars are distributed in a 2.5 degree wide
stripe centered on the Celestial Equator covering square degrees.
Positions and SDSS magnitudes are given for the 898 quasars known prior to SDSS
spectroscopic commissioning. New SDSS quasars represent an increase of over
200% in the number of known quasars in this area of the sky. The ensemble
average of the observed colors of quasars in the SDSS passbands are well
represented by a power-law continuum with (). However, the contributions of the bump
and other strong emission lines have a significant effect upon the colors. The
color-redshift relation exhibits considerable structure, which may be of use in
determining photometric redshifts for quasars. The range of colors can be
accounted for by a range in the optical spectral index with a distribution
(95% confidence), but there is a red tail in the
distribution. This tail may be a sign of internal reddening. Finally, we show
that there is a continuum of properties between quasars and Seyfert galaxies
and we test the validity of the traditional division between the two classes of
AGN.Comment: 66 pages, 15 figures (3 color), accepted by A
Absorption Coefficient (ABSCO) Tables for the Orbiting Carbon Observatories: Version 5.1
The accuracy of atmospheric trace gas retrievals depends directly on the accuracy of the molecular absorption model used within the retrieval algorithm. For remote sensing of well-mixed gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), where the atmospheric variability is small compared to the background, the quality of the molecular absorption model is key. Recent updates to oxygen (O₂) absorption coefficients (ABSCO) for the 0.76 μm A-band and the water vapor (H₂O) continuum model within the 1.6 μm and 2.06 μm CO₂ bands used within the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2 and OCO-3) algorithm are described here. Updates in the O₂ A-band involve the inclusion of new laboratory measurements within multispectrum fits to improve relative consistency between O₂ line shapes and collision-induced absorption (CIA). The H₂O continuum model has been updated to MTCKD v3.2, which has benefited from information from a range of laboratory studies relative to the model utilized in the previous ABSCO version. Impacts of these spectroscopy updates have been evaluated against ground-based atmospheric spectra from the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) and within the framework of the OCO-2 algorithm, using OCO-2 soundings covering a range of atmospheric and surface conditions. The updated absorption coefficients (ABSCO version 5.1) are found to offer improved fitting residuals and reduced biases in retrieved surface pressure relative to the previous version (ABSCO v5.0) used within B8 and B9 of the OCO-2 retrieval algorithm and have been adopted for the OCO B10 Level 2 algorithm
The First Hour of Extra-galactic Data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Spectroscopic Commissioning: The Coma Cluster
On 26 May 1999, one of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) fiber-fed
spectrographs saw astronomical first light. This was followed by the first
spectroscopic commissioning run during the dark period of June 1999. We present
here the first hour of extra-galactic spectroscopy taken during these early
commissioning stages: an observation of the Coma cluster of galaxies. Our data
samples the Southern part of this cluster, out to a radius of 1.5degrees and
thus fully covers the NGC 4839 group. We outline in this paper the main
characteristics of the SDSS spectroscopic systems and provide redshifts and
spectral classifications for 196 Coma galaxies, of which 45 redshifts are new.
For the 151 galaxies in common with the literature, we find excellent agreement
between our redshift determinations and the published values. As part of our
analysis, we have investigated four different spectral classification
algorithms: spectral line strengths, a principal component decomposition, a
wavelet analysis and the fitting of spectral synthesis models to the data. We
find that a significant fraction (25%) of our observed Coma galaxies show signs
of recent star-formation activity and that the velocity dispersion of these
active galaxies (emission-line and post-starburst galaxies) is 30% larger than
the absorption-line galaxies. We also find no active galaxies within the
central (projected) 200 h-1 Kpc of the cluster. The spatial distribution of our
Coma active galaxies is consistent with that found at higher redshift for the
CNOC1 cluster survey. Beyond the core region, the fraction of bright active
galaxies appears to rise slowly out to the virial radius and are randomly
distributed within the cluster with no apparent correlation with the potential
merger of the NGC 4839 group. [ABRIDGED]Comment: Accepted in AJ, 65 pages, 20 figures, 5 table
Galaxy Clustering in Early SDSS Redshift Data
We present the first measurements of clustering in the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey (SDSS) galaxy redshift survey. Our sample consists of 29,300 galaxies
with redshifts 5,700 km/s < cz < 39,000 km/s, distributed in several long but
narrow (2.5-5 degree) segments, covering 690 square degrees. For the full,
flux-limited sample, the redshift-space correlation length is approximately 8
Mpc/h. The two-dimensional correlation function \xi(r_p,\pi) shows clear
signatures of both the small-scale, ``fingers-of-God'' distortion caused by
velocity dispersions in collapsed objects and the large-scale compression
caused by coherent flows, though the latter cannot be measured with high
precision in the present sample. The inferred real-space correlation function
is well described by a power law, \xi(r)=(r/6.1+/-0.2 Mpc/h)^{-1.75+/-0.03},
for 0.1 Mpc/h < r < 16 Mpc/h. The galaxy pairwise velocity dispersion is
\sigma_{12} ~ 600+/-100 km/s for projected separations 0.15 Mpc/h < r_p < 5
Mpc/h. When we divide the sample by color, the red galaxies exhibit a stronger
and steeper real-space correlation function and a higher pairwise velocity
dispersion than do the blue galaxies. The relative behavior of subsamples
defined by high/low profile concentration or high/low surface brightness is
qualitatively similar to that of the red/blue subsamples. Our most striking
result is a clear measurement of scale-independent luminosity bias at r < 10
Mpc/h: subsamples with absolute magnitude ranges centered on M_*-1.5, M_*, and
M_*+1.5 have real-space correlation functions that are parallel power laws of
slope ~ -1.8 with correlation lengths of approximately 7.4 Mpc/h, 6.3 Mpc/h,
and 4.7 Mpc/h, respectively.Comment: 51 pages, 18 figures. Replaced to match accepted ApJ versio
The Multi-Object, Fiber-Fed Spectrographs for SDSS and the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
We present the design and performance of the multi-object fiber spectrographs
for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and their upgrade for the Baryon
Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). Originally commissioned in Fall 1999
on the 2.5-m aperture Sloan Telescope at Apache Point Observatory, the
spectrographs produced more than 1.5 million spectra for the SDSS and SDSS-II
surveys, enabling a wide variety of Galactic and extra-galactic science
including the first observation of baryon acoustic oscillations in 2005. The
spectrographs were upgraded in 2009 and are currently in use for BOSS, the
flagship survey of the third-generation SDSS-III project. BOSS will measure
redshifts of 1.35 million massive galaxies to redshift 0.7 and Lyman-alpha
absorption of 160,000 high redshift quasars over 10,000 square degrees of sky,
making percent level measurements of the absolute cosmic distance scale of the
Universe and placing tight constraints on the equation of state of dark energy.
The twin multi-object fiber spectrographs utilize a simple optical layout
with reflective collimators, gratings, all-refractive cameras, and
state-of-the-art CCD detectors to produce hundreds of spectra simultaneously in
two channels over a bandpass covering the near ultraviolet to the near
infrared, with a resolving power R = \lambda/FWHM ~ 2000. Building on proven
heritage, the spectrographs were upgraded for BOSS with volume-phase
holographic gratings and modern CCD detectors, improving the peak throughput by
nearly a factor of two, extending the bandpass to cover 360 < \lambda < 1000
nm, and increasing the number of fibers from 640 to 1000 per exposure. In this
paper we describe the original SDSS spectrograph design and the upgrades
implemented for BOSS, and document the predicted and measured performances.Comment: 43 pages, 42 figures, revised according to referee report and
accepted by AJ. Provides background for the instrument responsible for SDSS
and BOSS spectra. 4th in a series of survey technical papers released in
Summer 2012, including arXiv:1207.7137 (DR9), arXiv:1207.7326 (Spectral
Classification), and arXiv:1208.0022 (BOSS Overview
Improved retrievals of carbon dioxide from Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 with the version 8 ACOS algorithm
Since September 2014, NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2)
satellite has been taking measurements of reflected solar spectra and using
them to infer atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. This work provides details
of the OCO-2 retrieval algorithm, versions 7 and 8, used to derive the
column-averaged dry air mole fraction of atmospheric CO2
(XCO2) for the roughly 100 000 cloud-free measurements recorded
by OCO-2 each day. The algorithm is based on the Atmospheric Carbon
Observations from Space (ACOS) algorithm which has been applied to
observations from the Greenhouse Gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) since
2009, with modifications necessary for OCO-2. Because high accuracy,
better than 0.25 %, is required in order to accurately infer carbon
sources and sinks from XCO2, significant errors and regional-scale
biases in the measurements must be minimized. We discuss efforts to filter
out poor-quality measurements, and correct the remaining good-quality
measurements to minimize regional-scale biases. Updates to the radiance
calibration and retrieval forward model in version 8 have improved many
aspects of the retrieved data products. The version 8 data appear to have
reduced regional-scale biases overall, and demonstrate a clear improvement
over the version 7 data. In particular, error variance with respect to TCCON
was reduced by 20 % over land and 40 % over ocean between versions 7
and 8, and nadir and glint observations over land are now more consistent.
While this paper documents the significant improvements in the ACOS
algorithm, it will continue to evolve and improve as the CO2 data
record continues to expand.</p