6,391 research outputs found
On the export of reactive nitrogen from Asia: NO\u3csub\u3ex\u3c/sub\u3e partitioning and effects on ozone
The partitioning of reactive nitrogen (NOy was measured over the remote North Pacific during spring 2006. Aircraft observations of NO, NO2, total peroxy nitrates (ΣPNs), total alkyl and multi-functional nitrates (ΣANs) and nitric acid (HNO3, made between 25° and 55° N, confirm a controlling role for peroxyacyl nitrates in NOx production in aged Asian outflow. ΣPNs account for more than 60% of NOy above 5 km, while thermal dissociation limits their contribution to less than 10% in the lower troposphere. Using simultaneous observations of NOx, ΣPNs, ΣANs, HNO3 and average wind speed, we calculate the flux of reactive nitrogen through the meridional plane of 150° W (between 20° and 55° N) to be 0.007 ± 0.002 Tg N day−1, which provides an upper limit of 23 ± 6.5% on the transport efficiency of NOy from East Asia. Observations of NOx, and HOx are used to constrain a 0-D photochemical box model for the calculation of net photochemical ozone production or tendency (Δ O3) as a function of aircraft altitude and NOx concentrations. The model analysis indicates that the photochemical environment of the lower troposphere (altitude \u3c 6 km) over the north Pacific is one of net O3 destruction, with an experimentally determined crossover point between net O3 destruction and net O3 production of 60 pptv NOx. Qualitative indicators of integrated net O3 production derived from simultaneous measurements of O3 and light alkanes (Parrish et al., 1992), also indicate that the north Pacific is, on average, a region of net O3 destruction
The production and persistence of ΣRONO2 in the Mexico City plume
Alkyl and multifunctional nitrates (RONO2, ΣANs) have been observed to be a significant fraction of NOy in a number of different chemical regimes. Their formation is an important free radical chain termination step ending production of ozone and possibly affecting formation of secondary organic aerosol. ΣANs also represent a potentially large, unmeasured contribution to OH reactivity and are a major pathway for the removal of nitrogen oxides from the atmosphere. Numerous studies have investigated the role of nitrate formation from biogenic compounds and in the remote atmosphere. Less attention has been paid to the role ΣANs may play in the complex mixtures of hydrocarbons typical of urban settings. Measurements of total alkyl and multifunctional nitrates, NO2, total peroxy nitrates (ΣPNs), HNO3 and a representative suite of hydrocarbons were obtained from the NASA DC-8 aircraft during spring of 2006 in and around Mexico City and the Gulf of Mexico. ΣANs were observed to be 10–20% of NOy in the Mexico City plume and to increase in importance with increased photochemical age. We describe three conclusions: (1) Correlations of ΣANs with odd-oxygen (Ox) indicate a stronger role for ΣANs in the photochemistry of Mexico City than is expected based on currently accepted photochemical mechanisms, (2) ΣAN formation suppresses peak ozone production rates by as much as 40% in the near-field of Mexico City and (3) ΣANs play a significant role in the export of NOy from Mexico City to the Gulf Region
Properties of Active Galaxies Deduced from H I Observations
We completed a new survey for H I emission for a large, well-defined sample
of 154 nearby (z < 0.1) galaxies with type 1 AGNs. We make use of the extensive
database presented in a companion paper to perform a comprehensive appraisal of
the cold gas content in active galaxies and to seek new strategies to
investigate the global properties of the host galaxies and their relationship
to their central black holes (BHs). We show that the BH mass obeys a strong,
roughly linear relation with the host galaxy's dynamical mass. BH mass follows
a looser, though still highly significant, correlation with the maximum
rotation velocity of the galaxy, as expected from the known scaling between
rotation velocity and central velocity dispersion. Neither of these H I-based
correlations is as tight as the more familiar relations between BH mass and
bulge luminosity or velocity dispersion, but they offer the advantage of being
insensitive to the glare of the nucleus and therefore are promising new tools
for probing the host galaxies of both nearby and distant AGNs. We present
evidence for substantial ongoing BH growth in the most actively accreting AGNs.
In these nearby systems, BH growth appears to be delayed with respect to the
assembly of the host galaxy but otherwise has left no detectable perturbation
to its mass-to-light ratio or its global gas content. The host galaxies of type
1 AGNs, including those luminous enough to qualify as quasars, are generally
gas-rich systems, possessing a cold interstellar medium reservoir at least as
abundant as that in inactive galaxies of the same morphological type. This
calls into question current implementations of AGN feedback in models of galaxy
formation that predict strong cold gas depletion in unobscured AGNs. (Abridged)Comment: To appear in ApJ; 14 page
Intercomparisons of airborne measurements of aerosol ionic chemical composition during TRACE-P and ACE-Asia
As part of the two field studies, Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific (TRACE-P) and the Asian Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-Asia), the inorganic chemical composition of tropospheric aerosols was measured over the western Pacific from three separate aircraft using various methods. Comparisons are made between the rapid online techniques of the particle into liquid sampler (PILS) for measurement of a suite of fine particle a mist chamber/ion chromatograph (MC/IC) measurement of fine sulfate, and the longer time-integrated filter and micro-orifice impactor (MOI) measurements. Comparisons between identical PILS on two separate aircraft flying in formation showed that they were highly correlated (e.g., sulfate r2 of 0.95), but were systematically different by 10 ± 5% (linear regression slope and 95% confidence bounds), and had generally higher concentrations on the aircraft with a low-turbulence inlet and shorter inlet-to-instrument transmission tubing. Comparisons of PILS and mist chamber measurements of fine sulfate on two different aircraft during formation flying had an r 2 of 0.78 and a relative difference of 39% ± 5%. MOI ionic data integrated to the PILS upper measurement size of 1.3 mm sampling from separate inlets on the same aircraft showed that for sulfate, PILS and MOI were within 14% ± 6% and correlated with an r 2 of 0.87. Most ionic compounds were within ±30%, which is in the range of differences reported between PILS and integrated samplers from ground-based comparisons. In many cases, direct intercomparison between the various instruments is difficult due to differences in upper-size detection limits. However, for this study, the results suggest that the fine particle mass composition measured from aircraft agree to within 30–40%
Cold atoms in videotape micro-traps
We describe an array of microscopic atom traps formed by a pattern of
magnetisation on a piece of videotape. We describe the way in which cold atoms
are loaded into one of these micro-traps and how the trapped atom cloud is used
to explore the properties of the trap. Evaporative cooling in the micro-trap
down to a temperature of 1 microkelvin allows us to probe the smoothness of the
trapping potential and reveals some inhomogeneity produced by the magnetic
film. We discuss future prospects for atom chips based on microscopic
permanent-magnet structures.Comment: Submitted for EPJD topical issue "Atom chips: manipulating atoms and
molecules with microfabricated structures
Surface and lightning sources of nitrogen oxides over the United States: Magnitudes, chemical evolution, and outflow
We use observations from two aircraft during the ICARTT campaign over the eastern United States and North Atlantic during summer 2004, interpreted with a global 3-D model of tropospheric chemistry (GEOS-Chem) to test current understanding of regional sources, chemical evolution, and export of NOx. The boundary layer NOx data provide top-down verification of a 50% decrease in power plant and industry NOx emissions over the eastern United States between 1999 and 2004. Observed NOx concentrations at 8–12 km altitude were 0.55 ± 0.36 ppbv, much larger than in previous U.S. aircraft campaigns (ELCHEM, SUCCESS, SONEX) though consistent with data from the NOXAR program aboard commercial aircraft. We show that regional lightning is the dominant source of this upper tropospheric NOx and increases upper tropospheric ozone by 10 ppbv. Simulating ICARTT upper tropospheric NOx observations with GEOS-Chem requires a factor of 4 increase in modeled NOx yield per flash (to 500 mol/ flash). Observed OH concentrations were a factor of 2 lower than can be explained from current photochemical models, for reasons that are unclear. A NOy-CO correlation analysis of the fraction f of North American NOx emissions vented to the free troposphere as NOy (sum of NOx and its oxidation products) shows observed f = 16 ± 10% and modeled f = 14 ± 9%, consistent with previous studies. Export to the lower free troposphere is mostly HNO3 but at higher altitudes is mostly PAN. The model successfully simulates NOy export efficiency and speciation, supporting previous model estimates of a large U.S. anthropogenic contribution to global tropospheric ozone through PAN export
Four-phase patterns in forced oscillatory systems
We investigate pattern formation in self-oscillating systems forced by an
external periodic perturbation. Experimental observations and numerical studies
of reaction-diffusion systems and an analysis of an amplitude equation are
presented. The oscillations in each of these systems entrain to rational
multiples of the perturbation frequency for certain values of the forcing
frequency and amplitude. We focus on the subharmonic resonant case where the
system locks at one fourth the driving frequency, and four-phase rotating
spiral patterns are observed at low forcing amplitudes. The spiral patterns are
studied using an amplitude equation for periodically forced oscillating
systems. The analysis predicts a bifurcation (with increasing forcing) from
rotating four-phase spirals to standing two-phase patterns. This bifurcation is
also found in periodically forced reaction-diffusion equations, the
FitzHugh-Nagumo and Brusselator models, even far from the onset of oscillations
where the amplitude equation analysis is not strictly valid. In a
Belousov-Zhabotinsky chemical system periodically forced with light we also
observe four-phase rotating spiral wave patterns. However, we have not observed
the transition to standing two-phase patterns, possibly because with increasing
light intensity the reaction kinetics become excitable rather than oscillatory.Comment: 11 page
Theory of traveling filaments in bistable semiconductor structures
We present a generic nonlinear model for current filamentation in
semiconductor structures with S-shaped current-voltage characteristics. The
model accounts for Joule self-heating of a current density filament. It is
shown that the self-heating leads to a bifurcation from static to traveling
filament. Filaments start to travel when increase of the lattice temperature
has negative impact on the cathode-anode transport. Since the impact ionization
rate decreases with temperature, this occurs for a wide class of semiconductor
systems whose bistability is due to the avalanche impact ionization. We develop
an analytical theory of traveling filaments which reveals the mechanism of
filament motion, find the condition for bifurcation to traveling filament, and
determine the filament velocity.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
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