95 research outputs found
An algorithm for detecting <i>Trichodesmium</i> surface blooms in the South Western Tropical Pacific
<i>Trichodesmium</i>, a major colonial cyanobacterial nitrogen fixer, forms large blooms in NO<sub>3</sub>-depleted tropical oceans and enhances CO<sub>2</sub> sequestration by the ocean due to its ability to fix dissolved dinitrogen. Thus, its importance in C and N cycles requires better estimates of its distribution at basin to global scales. However, existing algorithms to detect them from satellite have not yet been successful in the South Western Tropical Pacific (SP). Here, a novel algorithm (TRICHOdesmium SATellite) based on radiance anomaly spectra (RAS) observed in SeaWiFS imagery, is used to detect <i>Trichodesmium</i> during the austral summertime in the SP (5° S–25° S 160° E–170° W). Selected pixels are characterized by a restricted range of parameters quantifying RAS spectra (e.g. slope, intercept, curvature). The fraction of valid (non-cloudy) pixels identified as <i>Trichodesmium</i> surface blooms in the region is low (between 0.01 and 0.2 %), but is about 100 times higher than deduced from previous algorithms. At daily scales in the SP, this fraction represents a total ocean surface area varying from 16 to 48 km<sup>2</sup> in Winter and from 200 to 1000 km<sup>2</sup> in Summer (and at monthly scale, from 500 to 1000 km<sup>2</sup> in Winter and from 3100 to 10 890 km<sup>2</sup> in Summer with a maximum of 26 432 km<sup>2</sup> in January 1999). The daily distribution of <i>Trichodesmium</i> surface accumulations in the SP detected by TRICHOSAT is presented for the period 1998–2010 which demonstrates that the number of selected pixels peaks in November–February each year, consistent with field observations. This approach was validated with in situ observations of <i>Trichodesmium</i> surface accumulations in the Melanesian archipelago around New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji Islands for the same period
Relative pointing offset analysis of calibration targets with repeated observations with Herschel-SPIRE Fourier-Transform Spectrometer
We present a method to derive the relative pointing offsets for SPIRE
Fourier-Transform Spectrometer (FTS) solar system object (SSO) calibration
targets, which were observed regularly throughout the Herschel mission. We
construct ratios of the spectra for all observations of a given source with
respect to a reference. The reference observation is selected iteratively to be
the one with the highest observed continuum. Assuming that any pointing offset
leads to an overall shift of the continuum level, then these ratios represent
the relative flux loss due to mispointing. The mispointing effects are more
pronounced for a smaller beam, so we consider only the FTS short wavelength
array (SSW, 958-1546 GHz) to derive a pointing correction. We obtain the
relative pointing offset by comparing the ratio to a grid of expected losses
for a model source at different distances from the centre of the beam, under
the assumption that the SSW FTS beam can be well approximated by a Gaussian. In
order to avoid dependency on the point source flux conversion, which uses a
particular observation of Uranus, we use extended source flux calibrated
spectra to construct the ratios for the SSOs. In order to account for continuum
variability, due to the changing distance from the Herschel telescope, the SSO
ratios are normalised by the expected model ratios for the corresponding
observing epoch. We confirm the accuracy of the derived pointing offset by
comparing the results with a number of control observations, where the actual
pointing of Herschel is known with good precision. Using the method we derived
pointing offsets for repeated observations of Uranus (including observations
centred on off-axis detectors), Neptune, Ceres and NGC7027. The results are
used to validate and improve the point-source flux calibration of the FTS.Comment: 17 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in Experimental
Astronom
Herschel SPIRE FTS Relative Spectral Response Calibration
Herschel/SPIRE Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) observations contain
emission from both the Herschel Telescope and the SPIRE Instrument itself, both
of which are typically orders of magnitude greater than the emission from the
astronomical source, and must be removed in order to recover the source
spectrum. The effects of the Herschel Telescope and the SPIRE Instrument are
removed during data reduction using relative spectral response calibration
curves and emission models. We present the evolution of the methods used to
derive the relative spectral response calibration curves for the SPIRE FTS. The
relationship between the calibration curves and the ultimate sensitivity of
calibrated SPIRE FTS data is discussed and the results from the derivation
methods are compared. These comparisons show that the latest derivation methods
result in calibration curves that impart a factor of between 2 and 100 less
noise to the overall error budget, which results in calibrated spectra for
individual observations whose noise is reduced by a factor of 2-3, with a gain
in the overall spectral sensitivity of 23% and 21% for the two detector bands,
respectively.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Experimental
Astronom
Herschel SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer: Calibration of its Bright-source Mode
The Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) of the Spectral and Photometric
Imaging REceiver (SPIRE) on board the ESA Herschel Space Observatory has two
detector setting modes: (a) a nominal mode, which is optimized for observing
moderately bright to faint astronomical targets, and (b) a bright-source mode
recommended for sources significantly brighter than 500 Jy, within the SPIRE
FTS bandwidth of 446.7-1544 GHz (or 194-671 microns in wavelength), which
employs a reduced detector responsivity and out-of-phase analog signal
amplifier/demodulator. We address in detail the calibration issues unique to
the bright-source mode, describe the integration of the bright-mode data
processing into the existing pipeline for the nominal mode, and show that the
flux calibration accuracy of the bright-source mode is generally within 2% of
that of the nominal mode, and that the bright-source mode is 3 to 4 times less
sensitive than the nominal mode.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Experimental
Astronom
Herschel SPIRE FTS Spectral Mapping Calibration
The Herschel SPIRE Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) performs spectral
imaging in the 447-1546 GHz band. It can observe in three spatial sampling
modes: sparse mode, with a single pointing on sky, or intermediate or full
modes with 1 and 1/2 beam spacing, respectively. In this paper, we investigate
the uncertainty and repeatability for fully sampled FTS mapping observations.
The repeatability is characterised using nine observations of the Orion Bar.
Metrics are derived based on the ratio of the measured intensity in each
observation compared to that in the combined spectral cube from all
observations. The mean relative deviation is determined to be within 2%, and
the pixel-by-pixel scatter is ~7%. The scatter increases towards the edges of
the maps. The uncertainty in the frequency scale is also studied, and the
spread in the line centre velocity across the maps is found to be ~15 km/s.
Other causes of uncertainty are also discussed including the effect of pointing
and the additive uncertainty in the continuum.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Experimental
Astronom
Systematic characterisation of the Herschel SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer
A systematic programme of calibration observations was carried out to monitor
the performance of the SPIRE FTS instrument on board the Herschel Space
Observatory. Observations of planets (including the prime point-source
calibrator, Uranus), asteroids, line sources, dark sky, and cross-calibration
sources were made in order to monitor repeatability and sensitivity, and to
improve FTS calibration. We present a complete analysis of the full set of
calibration observations and use them to assess the performance of the FTS.
Particular care is taken to understand and separate out the effect of pointing
uncertainties, including the position of the internal beam steering mirror for
sparse observations in the early part of the mission. The repeatability of
spectral line centre positions is <5km/s, for lines with signal-to-noise ratios
>40, corresponding to <0.5-2.0% of a resolution element. For spectral line
flux, the repeatability is better than 6%, which improves to 1-2% for spectra
corrected for pointing offsets. The continuum repeatability is 4.4% for the SLW
band and 13.6% for the SSW band, which reduces to ~1% once the data have been
corrected for pointing offsets. Observations of dark sky were used to assess
the sensitivity and the systematic offset in the continuum, both of which were
found to be consistent across the FTS detector arrays. The average point-source
calibrated sensitivity for the centre detectors is 0.20 and 0.21 Jy [1 sigma; 1
hour], for SLW and SSW. The average continuum offset is 0.40 Jy for the SLW
band and 0.28 Jy for the SSW band.Comment: 41 pages, 37 figures, 32 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Observing Extended Sources with the \Herschel SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer
The Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) on the European Space
Agency's Herschel Space Observatory utilizes a pioneering design for its
imaging spectrometer in the form of a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS). The
standard FTS data reduction and calibration schemes are aimed at objects with
either a spatial extent much larger than the beam size or a source that can be
approximated as a point source within the beam. However, when sources are of
intermediate spatial extent, neither of these calibrations schemes is
appropriate and both the spatial response of the instrument and the source's
light profile must be taken into account and the coupling between them
explicitly derived. To that end, we derive the necessary corrections using an
observed spectrum of a fully extended source with the beam profile and the
source's light profile taken into account. We apply the derived correction to
several observations of planets and compare the corrected spectra with their
spectral models to study the beam coupling efficiency of the instrument in the
case of partially extended sources. We find that we can apply these correction
factors for sources with angular sizes up to \theta_{D} ~ 17". We demonstrate
how the angular size of an extended source can be estimated using the
difference between the sub-spectra observed at the overlap bandwidth of the two
frequency channels in the spectrometer, at 959<\nu<989 GHz. Using this
technique on an observation of Saturn, we estimate a size of 17.2", which is 3%
larger than its true size on the day of observation. Finally, we show the
results of the correction applied on observations of a nearby galaxy, M82, and
the compact core of a Galactic molecular cloud, Sgr B2.Comment: Accepted for publication by A&
Calibration of the Herschel SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer
The Herschel SPIRE instrument consists of an imaging photometric camera and
an imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS), both operating over a
frequency range of 450-1550 GHz. In this paper, we briefly review the FTS
design, operation, and data reduction, and describe in detail the approach
taken to relative calibration (removal of instrument signatures) and absolute
calibration against standard astronomical sources. The calibration scheme
assumes a spatially extended source and uses the Herschel telescope as primary
calibrator. Conversion from extended to point-source calibration is carried out
using observations of the planet Uranus. The model of the telescope emission is
shown to be accurate to within 6% and repeatable to better than 0.06% and, by
comparison with models of Mars and Neptune, the Uranus model is shown to be
accurate to within 3%. Multiple observations of a number of point-like sources
show that the repeatability of the calibration is better than 1%, if the
effects of the satellite absolute pointing error (APE) are corrected. The
satellite APE leads to a decrement in the derived flux, which can be up to ~10%
(1 sigma) at the high-frequency end of the SPIRE range in the first part of the
mission, and ~4% after Herschel operational day 1011. The lower frequency range
of the SPIRE band is unaffected by this pointing error due to the larger beam
size. Overall, for well-pointed, point-like sources, the absolute flux
calibration is better than 6%, and for extended sources where mapping is
required it is better than 7%.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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An algorithm for detecting Trichodesmium surface blooms in the South Western Tropical Pacific
Trichodesmium, a major colonial cyanobacterial nitrogen fixer, forms large blooms in NO₃-depleted tropical oceans and enhances CO₂ sequestration by the ocean due to its ability to fix dissolved dinitrogen. Thus, its importance in C and N cycles requires better estimates of its distribution at basin to global scales. However, existing algorithms to detect them from satellite have not yet been successful in the South Western Tropical Pacific (SP). Here, a novel algorithm (TRICHOdesmium SATellite) based on radiance anomaly spectra (RAS) observed in SeaWiFS imagery, is used to detect Trichodesmium during the austral summertime in the SP (5° S–25° S 160° E–170° W). Selected pixels are characterized by a restricted range of parameters quantifying RAS spectra (e.g. slope, intercept, curvature). The fraction of valid (non-cloudy) pixels identified as Trichodesmium surface blooms in the region is low (between 0.01 and 0.2 %), but is about 100 times higher than deduced from previous algorithms. At daily scales in the SP, this fraction represents a total ocean surface area varying from 16 to 48 km² in Winter and from 200 to 1000 km² in Summer (and at monthly scale, from 500 to 1000 km² in Winter and from 3100 to 10 890 km² in Summer with a maximum of 26 432 km² in January 1999). The daily distribution of Trichodesmium surface accumulations in the SP detected by TRICHOSAT is presented for the period 1998–2010 which demonstrates that the number of selected pixels peaks in November–February each year, consistent with field observations. This approach was validated with in situ observations of Trichodesmium surface accumulations in the Melanesian archipelago around New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji Islands for the same period
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