First ALMA Observation of a Solar Plasmoid Ejection from an X-ray Bright Point

Eruptive phenomena such as plasmoid ejections or jets are an important feature of solar activity with the potential for improving our understanding of the dynamics of the solar atmosphere. Such ejections are often thought to be signatures of the outflows expected in regions of fast magnetic reconnection. The 304 A EUV line of Helium, formed at around 10^5 K, is found to be a reliable tracer of such phenomena, but the determination of physical parameters from such observations is not straightforward. We have observed a plasmoid ejection from an X-ray bright point simultaneously at millimeter wavelengths with ALMA, at EUV wavelengths with AIA, in soft X-rays with Hinode/XRT. This paper reports the physical parameters of the plasmoid obtained by combining the radio, EUV and X-ray data. As a result, we conclude that the plasmoid can consist either of (approximately) isothermal 10^5 K plasma that is optically thin at 100 GHz, or else a 10^4 K core with a hot envelope. The analysis demonstrates the value of the additional temperature and density constraints that ALMA provides, and future science observations with ALMA will be able to match the spatial resolution of space-borne and other high-resolution telescopes.Comment: 10 page, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letter. The movie can be seen at the following link: http://hinode.nao.ac.jp/user/shimojo/data_area/plasmoid/movie5.mp

Will Carbon Find a Home on the Range? A Monte Carlo Simulation

Rangeland Carbon Sequestration, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Spatially and Spectrally Resolved Observations of a Zebra Pattern in Solar Decimetric Radio Burst

We present the first interferometric observation of a zebra-pattern radio burst with simultaneous high spectral (~ 1 MHz) and high time (20 ms) resolution. The Frequency-Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR) Subsystem Testbed (FST) and the Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA) were used in parallel to observe the X1.5 flare on 14 December 2006. By using OVSA to calibrate the FST the source position of the zebra pattern can be located on the solar disk. With the help of multi-wavelength observations and a nonlinear force-free field (NLFFF) extrapolation, the zebra source is explored in relation to the magnetic field configuration. New constraints are placed on the source size and position as a function of frequency and time. We conclude that the zebra burst is consistent with a double-plasma resonance (DPR) model in which the radio emission occurs in resonance layers where the upper hybrid frequency is harmonically related to the electron cyclotron frequency in a coronal magnetic loop.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

The Effects of Scenic and Environmental Amenities on Agricultural Land Values

Ascribing land value solely to productive capacity does not accurately capture the impact environmental amenities provide on western land prices. Agricultural land prices in Wyoming are estimated using a hedonic price model and Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) data. These GIS measurements include on-parcel wildlife and fish habitat, viewscape attributes and distance to protected federal lands. A feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) approach is used to address both spatial autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity. The estimation is robust and highly significant. Results indicate that amenities as well as productivity are significant in explaining land values for the sample analyzed. Such information is useful for landscape management in the face of amenity threatening parcel fragmentation.Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Cluster virial expansion for nuclear matter within a quasiparticle statistical approach

Correlations in interacting many-particle systems can lead to the formation of clusters, in particular bound states and resonances. Systematic quantum statistical approaches allow to combine the nuclear statistical equilibrium description (law of mass action) with mean-field concepts. A chemical picture, which treats the clusters as distinct entities, serves as an intuitive concept to treat the low-density limit. Within a generalized Beth-Uhlenbeck approach, the quasiparticle virial expansion is extended to include arbitrary clusters, where special attention must be paid to avoid inconsistencies such as double counting. Correlations are suppressed with increasing density due to Pauli blocking. The contribution of the continuum to the virial coefficients can be reduced by considering clusters explicitly and introducing quasiparticle energies. The cluster-virial expansion for nuclear matter joins known benchmarks at low densities with those near saturation density.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

First high-resolution look at the quiet Sun with ALMA at 3 mm

We present an overview of high resolution quiet Sun observations, from disk center to the limb, obtained with the Atacama Large mm and sub-mm Array (ALMA) at 3 mm. Seven quiet Sun regions were observed with resolution of up to 2.5" by 4.5". We produced both average and snapshot images by self-calibrating the ALMA visibilities and combining the interferometric images with full disk solar images. The images show well the chromospheric network, which, based on the unique segregation method we used, is brighter than the average over the fields of view of the observed regions by $\sim 305$ K while the intranetwork is less bright by $\sim 280$ K, with a slight decrease of the network/intranetwork contrast toward the limb. At 3 mm the network is very similar to the 1600 \AA\ images, with somewhat larger size. We detected for the first time spicular structures, rising up to 15" above the limb with a width down to the image resolution and brightness temperature of $\sim$ 1800 K above the local background. No trace of spicules, either in emission or absorption, was found on the disk. Our results highlight ALMA's potential for the study of the quiet chromosphere.Comment: Astronomy and Astrophysics (Letters), in pres