The effect of optically thin cirrus clouds on solar radiation in Camagüey, Cuba

The effect of optically thin cirrus clouds on solar radiation is analyzed by numerical simulation, using lidar measurements of cirrus conducted at Camagüey, Cuba. Sign and amplitude of the cirrus clouds effect on solar radiation is evaluated. There is a relation between the solar zenith angle and solar cirrus cloud radiative forcing (SCRF) present in the diurnal cycle of the SCRF. Maximums of SCRF out of noon located at the cirrus cloud base height are found for the thin and opaque cirrus clouds. The cirrus clouds optical depth (COD) threshold for having double SCRF maximum out of noon instead of a single one at noon was 0.083. In contrast, the heating rate shows a maximum at noon in the location of cirrus clouds maximum extinction values. Cirrus clouds have a cooling effect in the solar spectrum at the Top of the Atmosphere (TOA) and at the surface (SFC). The daily mean value of SCRF has an average value of −9.1 W m<sup>−2</sup> at TOA and −5.6 W m<sup>−2</sup> at SFC. The cirrus clouds also have a local heating effect on the atmospheric layer where they are located. Cirrus clouds have mean daily values of heating rates of 0.63 K day<sup>−1</sup> with a range between 0.35 K day<sup>−1</sup> and 1.24 K day<sup>−1</sup>. The principal effect is in the near-infrared spectral band of the solar spectrum. There is a linear relation between SCRF and COD, with −30 W m<sup>−2</sup> COD<sup>−1</sup> and −26 W m<sup>−2</sup> COD<sup>−1</sup>, values for the slopes of the fits at the TOA and SFC, respectively, in the broadband solar spectrum

Periodically modulated geometric and electronic structure of graphene on Ru(0001)

We report here on a method to fabricate and characterize highly perfect, periodically rippled graphene monolayers and islands, epitaxially grown on single crystal metallic substrates under controlled UHV conditions. The periodicity of the ripples is dictated by the difference in lattice parameters of graphene and substrate, and, thus, it is adjustable. We characterize its perfection at the atomic scale by means of STM and determine its electronic structure in the real space by local tunnelling spectroscopy. There are periodic variations in the geometric and electronic structure of the graphene monolayer. We observe inhomogeneities in the charge distribution, i.e a larger occupied Density Of States at the higher parts of the ripples. Periodically rippled graphene might represent the physical realization of an ordered array of coupled graphene quantum dots. The data show, however, that for rippled graphene on Ru(0001) both the low and the high parts of the ripples are metallic. The fabrication of periodically rippled graphene layers with controllable characteristic length and different bonding interactions with the substrate will allow a systematic experimental test of this fundamental problem.Comment: 12 pages. Contribution to the topical issue on graphene of Semiconductor Science and Technolog

Electronic and Geometric Corrugation of Periodically Rippled, Self-nanostructured Graphene Epitaxially Grown on Ru(0001)

Graphene epitaxially grown on Ru(0001) displays a remarkably ordered pattern of hills and valleys in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) images. To which extent the observed "ripples" are structural or electronic in origin have been much disputed recently. A combination of ultrahigh resolution STM images and Helium Atom diffraction data shows that i) the graphene lattice is rotated with respect to the lattice of Ru and ii) the structural corrugation as determined from He diffraction is substantially smaller (0.015 nm) than predicted (0.15 nm) or reported from X-Ray Diffraction or Low Energy Electron Diffraction. The electronic corrugation, on the contrary, is strong enough to invert the contrast between hills and valleys above +2.6 V as new, spatially localized electronic states enter the energy window of the STM. The large electronic corrugation results in a nanostructured periodic landscape of electron and holes pockets.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Stability conditions and positivity of invariants of fibrations

We study three methods that prove the positivity of a natural numerical invariant associated to $1-$parameter families of polarized varieties. All these methods involve different stability conditions. In dimension 2 we prove that there is a natural connection between them, related to a yet another stability condition, the linear stability. Finally we make some speculations and prove new results in higher dimension.Comment: Final version, to appear in the Springer volume dedicated to Klaus Hulek on the occasion of his 60-th birthda

Periodically modulated geometric and electronic structure of graphene on Ru(0001)

We report here on a method to fabricate and characterize highly perfect, periodically rippled graphene monolayers and islands, epitaxially grown on single crystal metallic substrates under controlled UHV conditions. The periodicity of the ripples is dictated by the difference in lattice parameters of graphene and substrate, and, thus, it is adjustable. We characterize its perfection at the atomic scale by means of STM and determine its electronic structure in the real space by local tunnelling spectroscopy. There are periodic variations in the geometric and electronic structure of the graphene monolayer. We observe inhomogeneities in the charge distribution, i.e a larger occupied Density Of States at the higher parts of the ripples. Periodically rippled graphene might represent the physical realization of an ordered array of coupled graphene quantum dots. The data show, however, that for rippled graphene on Ru(0001) both the low and the high parts of the ripples are metallic. The fabrication of periodically rippled graphene layers with controllable characteristic length and different bonding interactions with the substrate will allow a systematic experimental test of this fundamental problem.Comment: 12 pages. Contribution to the topical issue on graphene of Semiconductor Science and Technolog

Effects of human activity on physiological and behavioral responses of an endangered steppe bird

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Behavioral Ecology following peer review. The version of recordBehavioral Ecology 26.3 (2015): 828-838 is available online at: http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/04/02/beheco.arv016Animals may perceive humans as a form of predatory threat, a disturbance, triggering behavioral changes together with the activation of physiological stress responses. These adaptive responses may allow individuals to cope with stressful stimuli, but a repeated or long-term exposure to disturbances may have detrimental individual- and population-level effects. We studied the effects of human activities, particularly hunting, on the behavior and physiological status of a near-threatened nongame steppe bird, the little bustard. Using a semiexperimental approach, we compared before, during, and after weekends: 1) the type and intensity of human activities and 2) the behavior and 3) physiological stress (fecal corticosterone metabolites) of wintering birds. Higher rates of human activity, in particular those related to hunting, occurred during weekends and caused indirect disturbance effects on birds. Little bustards spent more time vigilant and flying during weekends, and more time foraging in the mornings after weekend, possibly to compensate for increased energy expenditure during weekends. We also found increased physiological stress levels during weekends, as shown by higher fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations. Increased corticosterone metabolite levels were associated with the highest levels of hunting-related disturbances. Little bustard showed marked behavioral and physiological (stress hormones) responses to human activities that peaked during weekends, in particular hunting. The long-term effect of this particular activity carried out during weekends from autumn throughout winter might adversely impact wintering populations of this nongame endangered species, potentially counteracting conservation efforts conducted on local as well as foreign breeding populationsFunding was provided by the Comunidad de Madrid and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (CCG10-UAM/AMB-5325), Spanish Ministry of Science (CGL2009-13029/BOS), and REMEDINAL2 network of the CAM (S-2009/AMB/1783) and PhD grant from the Spanish Minister of Education (FPU to R.T.) and JAE-Doc contract funded from CSIC and the European Social Fund (ESF to F.C

Identifying substitutional oxygen as a prolific point defect in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides with experiment and theory

Chalcogen vacancies are considered to be the most abundant point defects in two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductors, and predicted to result in deep in-gap states (IGS). As a result, important features in the optical response of 2D-TMDs have typically been attributed to chalcogen vacancies, with indirect support from Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) images. However, TEM imaging measurements do not provide direct access to the electronic structure of individual defects; and while Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy (STS) is a direct probe of local electronic structure, the interpretation of the chemical nature of atomically-resolved STM images of point defects in 2D-TMDs can be ambiguous. As a result, the assignment of point defects as vacancies or substitutional atoms of different kinds in 2D-TMDs, and their influence on their electronic properties, has been inconsistent and lacks consensus. Here, we combine low-temperature non-contact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM), STS, and state-of-the-art ab initio density functional theory (DFT) and GW calculations to determine both the structure and electronic properties of the most abundant individual chalcogen-site defects common to 2D-TMDs. Surprisingly, we observe no IGS for any of the chalcogen defects probed. Our results and analysis strongly suggest that the common chalcogen defects in our 2D-TMDs, prepared and measured in standard environments, are substitutional oxygen rather than vacancies

A permanent Raman lidar station in the Amazon: description, characterization, and first results

A permanent UV Raman lidar station, designed to perform continuous measurements of aerosols and water vapor and aiming to study and monitor the atmosphere from weather to climatic time scales, became operational in the central Amazon in July 2011. the automated data acquisition and internet monitoring enabled extended hours of daily measurements when compared to a manually operated instrument. This paper gives a technical description of the system, presents its experimental characterization and the algorithms used for obtaining the aerosol optical properties and identifying the cloud layers. Data from one week of measurements during the dry season of 2011 were analyzed as a mean to assess the overall system capability and performance. Both Klett and Raman inversions were successfully applied. A comparison of the aerosol optical depth from the lidar and from a co-located Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sun photometer showed a correlation coefficient of 0.86. By combining nighttime measurements of the aerosol lidar ratio (50-65 sr), back-trajectory calculations and fire spots observed from satellites, we showed that observed particles originated from biomass burning. Cirrus clouds were observed in 60% of our measurements. Most of the time they were distributed into three layers between 11.5 and 13.4 km a. g. l. the systematic and long-term measurements being made by this new scientific facility have the potential to significantly improve our understanding of the climatic implications of the anthropogenic changes in aerosol concentrations over the pristine Amazonia.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia (INCT) - Mudancas ClimaticasConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Univ São Paulo, Inst Fis, BR-05508090 São Paulo, BrazilInst Meteorol Cuba, Ctr Meteorol Camaguey, Matanzas, CubaUNIFESP, Dept Ciencias Exatas & Terra, Diadema, SP, BrazilInst Nacl de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Manaus, AM, BrazilUniv Estado Amazonas, Manaus, AM, BrazilInst Fed Educ Ciencia & Tecnol São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilUNIFESP, Dept Ciencias Exatas & Terra, Diadema, SP, BrazilFAPESP: 2008/58100-1FAPESP: 2009/15235-8FAPESP: 2011/50170-4FAPESP: 2012/14437-9FAPESP: 2012/16100-1CNPq: 477575/2008-0CNPq: 475735/2012-9CNPq: 457843/2013-6Web of Scienc