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Estimating drizzle drop size and precipitation rate using two-colour lidar measurements
A method to estimate the size and liquid water content of drizzle drops using lidar measurements at two wavelengths is described. The method exploits the differential absorption of infrared light by liquid water at 905 nm and 1.5 μm, which leads to a different backscatter cross section for water drops larger than ≈50 μm. The ratio of backscatter measured from drizzle samples below cloud base at these two wavelengths (the colour ratio) provides a measure of the median volume drop diameter D0. This is a strong effect: for D0=200 μm, a colour ratio of ≈6 dB is predicted. Once D0 is known, the measured backscatter at 905 nm can be used to calculate the liquid water content (LWC) and other moments of the drizzle drop distribution.
The method is applied to observations of drizzle falling from stratocumulus and stratus clouds. High resolution (32 s, 36 m) profiles of D0, LWC and precipitation rate R are derived. The main sources of error in the technique are the need to assume a value for the dispersion parameter μ in the drop size spectrum (leading to at most a 35% error in R) and the influence of aerosol returns on the retrieval (≈10% error in R for the cases considered here). Radar reflectivities are also computed from the lidar data, and compared to independent measurements from a colocated cloud radar, offering independent validation of the derived drop size distributions
The Dearth of z~10 Galaxies in all HST Legacy Fields -- The Rapid Evolution of the Galaxy Population in the First 500 Myr
We present an analysis of all prime HST legacy fields spanning >800 arcmin^2
for the search of z~10 galaxy candidates and the study of their UV luminosity
function (LF). In particular, we present new z~10 candidates selected from the
full Hubble Frontier Field (HFF) dataset. Despite the addition of these new
fields, we find a low abundance of z~10 candidates with only 9 reliable sources
identified in all prime HST datasets that include the HUDF09/12, the HUDF/XDF,
all the CANDELS fields, and now the HFF survey. Based on this comprehensive
search, we find that the UV luminosity function decreases by one order of
magnitude from z~8 to z~10 at all luminosities over a four magnitude range.
This also implies a decrease of the cosmic star-formation rate density by an
order of magnitude within 170 Myr from z~8 to z~10. We show that this
accelerated evolution compared to lower redshift can entirely be explained by
the fast build-up of the dark matter halo mass function at z>8. Consequently,
the predicted UV LFs from several models of galaxy formation are in good
agreement with this observed trend, even though the measured UV LF lies at the
low end of model predictions. In particular, the number of only 9 observed
candidate galaxies is lower, by ~50%, than predicted by galaxy evolution
models. The difference is generally still consistent within the Poisson and
cosmic variance uncertainties. However, essentially all models predict larger
numbers than observed. We discuss the implications of these results in light of
the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope mission, which is poised to find much
larger samples of z~10 galaxies as well as their progenitors at less than 400
Myr after the Big Bang.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, minor updates to match accepted versio
Extremely Small Sizes for Faint z~2-8 Galaxies in the Hubble Frontier Fields: A Key Input For Establishing their Volume Density and UV Emissivity
We provide the first observational constraints on the sizes of the faintest
galaxies lensed by the Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) clusters. Ionizing
radiation from faint galaxies likely drives cosmic reionization, and the HFF
initiative provides a key opportunity to find such galaxies. Yet, we cannot
really assess their ionizing emissivity without a robust measurement of their
sizes, since this is key to quantifying both their prevalence and the faint-end
slope to the UV luminosity function. Here we provide the first such size
constraints with 2 new techniques. The first utilizes the fact that the
detectability of highly-magnified galaxies as a function of shear is very
dependent on a galaxy's size. Only the most compact galaxies will remain
detectable in regions of high shear (vs. a larger detectable size range for low
shear), a phenomenon we carefully quantify using simulations. Remarkably,
however, no correlation is found between the surface density of faint galaxies
and the predicted shear, using 87 faint high-magnification mu>10 z~2-8 galaxies
seen behind the first 4 HFF clusters. This can only be the case if such faint
(~-15 mag) galaxies have significantly smaller sizes than luminous galaxies. We
constrain their half-light radii to be <~30 mas (<160-240 pc). As a 2nd size
probe, we rotate and stack 26 faint high-magnification sources along the major
shear axis. Less elongation is found than even for objects with an intrinsic
half-light radius of 10 mas. Together these results indicate that extremely
faint z~2-8 galaxies have near point-source profiles in the HFF dataset
(half-light radii conservatively <30 mas and likely 5-10 mas). These results
suggest smaller completeness corrections and hence much lower volume densities
for faint z~2-8 galaxies and shallower faint-end slopes than have been derived
in many recent studies (by factors of ~2-3 and by dalpha>~0.1-0.3).Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Ap
Constraints on z~10 Galaxies from the Deepest HST NICMOS Fields
We use all available fields with deep NICMOS imaging to search for J dropouts
(H<28) at z~10. Our primary data set for this search were the two J+H NICMOS
parallel fields taken with the ACS HUDF. The 5 sigma limiting mags were 28.6 in
J and 28.5 in H. Several shallower fields were also used: J+H NICMOS frames
available over the HDF North, the HDF South NICMOS parallel, and the ACS HUDF.
The primary selection criterion was (J-H)>1.8. 11 such sources were found in
all search fields using this criterion. 8 of these were clearly ruled out as
credible z~10 sources, either as a result of detections (>2 sigma) blueward of
J or their colors redward of the break (H-K~1.5). The nature of the 3 remaining
sources could not be determined from the data. The number appears consistent
with the expected contamination from low-z interlopers. Analysis of the stacked
images for the 3 candidates also suggests contamination. Regardless of their
true redshifts, the actual number of z~10 sources must be <=3. To assess the
significance of these results, two lower redshift samples (a z~3.8 B-dropout
and z~6 i-dropout sample) were projected to z~8-12 using a (1+z)^{-1} size
scaling. They were added to the image frames, and the selection repeated,
giving 15.6 and 4.8 J-dropouts, respectively. This suggests that to the limit
of this probe (0.3 L*) there has been evolution from z~3.8 and possibly from
z~6. This is consistent with the strong evolution already noted at z~6 and
z~7.5 relative to z~3-4. Even assuming that 3 sources from this probe are at
z~10, the rest-frame continuum UV (~1500 A) luminosity density at z~10
(integrated down to 0.3 L*) is just 0.19_{-0.09}^{+0.13}x that at z~3.8 (or
0.19_{-0.10}^{+0.15}x including cosmic variance). However, if none of our
sources is at z~10, this ratio has a 1 sigma upper limit of 0.07. (abridged)Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal Letter
Newly Discovered Bright z~9-10 Galaxies and Improved Constraints on Their Prevalence Using the Full CANDELS Area
We report the results of an expanded search for z~9-10 candidates over the
~883 arcmin^2 CANDELS+ERS fields. This study adds 147 arcmin^2 to the search
area we consider over the CANDELS COSMOS, UDS, and EGS fields, while expanding
our selection to include sources with bluer J_{125}-H_{160} colors than our
previous J_{125}-H_{160}>0.5 mag selection. In searching for new z~9-10
candidates, we make full use of all available HST, Spitzer/IRAC, and
ground-based imaging data. As a result of our expanded search and use of
broader color criteria, 3 new candidate z~9-10 galaxies are identified. We also
find again the z=8.683 source previously confirmed by Zitrin+2015. This brings
our sample of probable z~9-11 galaxy candidates over the CANDELS+ERS fields to
19 sources in total, equivalent to 1 candidate per 47 arcmin^2 (1 per 10
WFC3/IR fields). To be comprehensive, we also discuss 28 mostly lower
likelihood z~9-10 candidates, including some sources that seem to be reliably
at z>8 using the HST+IRAC data alone, but which the ground-based data show are
much more likely at z<4. One case example is a bright z~9.4 candidate COS910-8
which seems instead to be at z~2. Based on this expanded sample, we obtain a
more robust LF at z~9 and improved constraints on the volume density of bright
z~9 and z~10 galaxies. Our improved z~9-10 results again reinforce previous
findings for strong evolution in the UV LF at z>8, with a factor of ~10
evolution seen in the luminosity density from z~10 to z~8.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
Distant red galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
We take advantage of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (UDF) data to study the
restframe optical and ultra violet (UV) morphologies of the novel population of
Distant Red Galaxies (DRGs). Six galaxies with J-Ks > 2.3 are found to Ks=21.5,
five of which have photometric redshifts z_phot > 2, corresponding to a surface
density of 0.9/arcmin^2. The surface brightness distributions of the z_phot > 2
galaxies are better represented by exponential disks than R^{1/4}-laws. Two of
the z_phot > 2 galaxies are extended, while three have compact morphologies.
The restframe optical morphology of the z_phot > 2 galaxies is quite different
from the restframe UV morphology: all the galaxies have red central components
which dominate in the NICMOS H_{160}-band images, and distinct off-center blue
features which show up in (and often dominate) the ACS images. The mean
measured effective radius of the z_phot > 2 galaxies is =1.9+/-1.4 kpc,
similar (within the errors) to the mean size of LBGs at similar redshifts. All
the DRGs are resolved in the ACS images, while four are resolved in the NICMOS
images. Two of the z_phot > 2 galaxies are bright X-ray sources and hence host
AGN. The diverse restframe optical and UV morphological properties of DRGs
derived here suggest that they have complex stellar populations, consisting of
both evolved populations that dominate the mass and the restframe optical
light, and younger populations, which show up as patches of star formation in
the restframe UV light; in many ways resembling the properties of normal local
galaxies. This interpretation is supported by fits to the broadband SEDs, which
for all five z_phot > 2 are best represented by models with extended star
formation histories and substantial amounts of dust.Comment: Accepted for publication in APJ
The GREATS H+[OIII] Luminosity Function and Galaxy Properties at : Walking the Way of JWST
The James Webb Space Telescope will allow to spectroscopically study an
unprecedented number of galaxies deep into the reionization era, notably by
detecting [OIII] and H nebular emission lines. To efficiently prepare
such observations, we photometrically select a large sample of galaxies at
and study their rest-frame optical emission lines. Combining data from
the GOODS Re-ionization Era wide-Area Treasury from Spitzer (GREATS) survey and
from HST, we perform spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, using
synthetic SEDs from a large grid of photoionization models. The deep
Spitzer/IRAC data combined with our models exploring a large parameter space
enables to constrain the [OIII]+H fluxes and equivalent widths for our
sample, as well as the average physical properties of galaxies, such
as the ionizing photon production efficiency with
. We
find a relatively tight correlation between the [OIII]+H and UV
luminosity, which we use to derive for the first time the [OIII]+H
luminosity function (LF) at . The [OIII]+H LF is higher
at all luminosities compared to lower redshift, as opposed to the UV LF, due to
an increase of the [OIII]+H luminosity at a given UV luminosity from
to . Finally, using the [OIII]+H LF, we make
predictions for JWST/NIRSpec number counts of galaxies. We find that
the current wide-area extragalactic legacy fields are too shallow to use JWST
at maximal efficiency for spectroscopy even at 1hr depth and JWST
pre-imaging to mag will be required.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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