Radiation and snowmelt dynamics in mountain forests

Utilising extensive field observations and physically-based simulations of forest-snow processes, the impacts of needleleaf forest-cover on radiation and snowmelt dynamics were investigated in an eastern Rocky Mountain headwater catchment. At low-elevation pine forest sites, the sparse canopy-cover allowed for substantial shortwave transmittance to snow, giving topography-influenced snow radiation balances and snowmelt timing. By comparison, the denser high-elevation spruce cover minimised shortwave radiation to snow, resulting in snowmelt dominated by longwave radiation gains, and close synchronisation in melt timing across opposing mountain slopes. Field observations were used to direct and evaluate physically-based simulation models describing radiation-snow exchanges in needleleaf forests. This included the estimation of shortwave irradiance transfer through sparse needleleaf canopies with explicit account for differing shortwave transmittance properties of trunks, crowns, and gaps within highly structured mountain pine stands. Improved representation of sub-canopy longwave irradiance to mountain snow was also made through the determination of added longwave emissions from shortwave heated canopies. From model simulations, forest-cover effects on radiation to snow were found to vary substantially with both topography and seasonal meteorological conditions. In general, forest-cover increased radiation during the mid-winter by reducing longwave losses from snow. However, with greater shortwave irradiance into the spring, forest-cover effects on radiation to snow became increasing influenced by topography, with greater radiation under more open canopies on south-facing slopes and under more closed canopies on north-facing slopes. Drawing upon past field investigations and modelling exercises, a physically-based simulation model was constructed to represent snow accumulation and melt processes in needleleaf forest environments. By means of an objective evaluation, the model well represented differences in snow accumulation and melt in paired forest and clearing sites of varying location and climate. The model was subsequently applied to examine forest-cover impacts on mountain snowmelt, revealing that forest-cover removal substantially increased total snowmelt and sizeably expanded the spring melt period through a de-synchronisation of melt contributions from south-facing and north-facing landscapes. These results demonstrate the potential for altering the magnitude and timing of mountain snowmelt through topographic-specific changes in mountain forest-cover

2023 Astrophotonics Roadmap: pathways to realizing multi-functional integrated astrophotonic instruments

Photonic technologies offer numerous functionalities that can be used to realize astrophotonic instruments. The most spectacular example to date is the ESO Gravity instrument at the Very Large Telescope in Chile that combines the light-gathering power of four 8-m telescopes through a complex photonic interferometer. Fully integrated astrophotonic devices offer critical advantages for instrument development, including extreme miniaturization when operating at the diffraction-limit, plus integration, superior thermal and mechanical stabilization owing to the small footprint, and high replicability offering significant cost savings. Numerous astrophotonic technologies have been developed to address shortcomings of conventional instruments to date, including the development of photonic lanterns to convert from multimode inputs to single mode outputs, complex aperiodic fiber Bragg gratings to filter OH emission from the atmosphere, beam combiners enabling long baseline interferometry with for example, ESO Gravity, and laser frequency combs for high precision spectral calibration of spectrometers. Despite these successes, the facility implementation of photonic solutions in astronomical instrumentation is currently limited because of 1) low throughputs from coupling to fibers, coupling fibers to chips, propagation and bend losses, device losses, etc., 2) difficulties with scaling to large channel count devices needed for large bandwidths and high resolutions, and 3) efficient integration of photonics with detectors. In this roadmap, we identify 23 key areas that need further development. We outline the challenges and advances needed across those areas covering design tools, simulation capabilities, fabrication processes, the need for entirely new components, integration and hybridization and the characterization of devices. To realize these advances the astrophotonics community will have to work cooperatively with industrial partners who have more advanced manufacturing capabilities. With the advances described herein, multi-functional integrated instruments will be realized leading to novel observing capabilities for both ground and space based platforms, enabling new scientific studies and discoveries

ILC Reference Design Report Volume 1 - Executive Summary

The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radio-frequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The ILC has a total footprint of about 31 km and is designed for a peak luminosity of 2x10^34 cm^-2s^-1. This report is the Executive Summary (Volume I) of the four volume Reference Design Report. It gives an overview of the physics at the ILC, the accelerator design and value estimate, the detector concepts, and the next steps towards project realization.The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radio-frequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The ILC has a total footprint of about 31 km and is designed for a peak luminosity of 2x10^34 cm^-2s^-1. This report is the Executive Summary (Volume I) of the four volume Reference Design Report. It gives an overview of the physics at the ILC, the accelerator design and value estimate, the detector concepts, and the next steps towards project realization

ILC Reference Design Report Volume 4 - Detectors

This report, Volume IV of the International Linear Collider Reference Design Report, describes the detectors which will record and measure the charged and neutral particles produced in the ILC's high energy e+e- collisions. The physics of the ILC, and the environment of the machine-detector interface, pose new challenges for detector design. Several conceptual designs for the detector promise the needed performance, and ongoing detector R&D is addressing the outstanding technological issues. Two such detectors, operating in push-pull mode, perfectly instrument the ILC interaction region, and access the full potential of ILC physics.This report, Volume IV of the International Linear Collider Reference Design Report, describes the detectors which will record and measure the charged and neutral particles produced in the ILC's high energy e+e- collisions. The physics of the ILC, and the environment of the machine-detector interface, pose new challenges for detector design. Several conceptual designs for the detector promise the needed performance, and ongoing detector R&D is addressing the outstanding technological issues. Two such detectors, operating in push-pull mode, perfectly instrument the ILC interaction region, and access the full potential of ILC physics

ILC Reference Design Report Volume 3 - Accelerator

The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radio-frequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The ILC has a total footprint of about 31 km and is designed for a peak luminosity of 2x10^34 cm^-2 s^-1. The complex includes a polarized electron source, an undulator-based positron source, two 6.7 km circumference damping rings, two-stage bunch compressors, two 11 km long main linacs and a 4.5 km long beam delivery system. This report is Volume III (Accelerator) of the four volume Reference Design Report, which describes the design and cost of the ILC.The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radio-frequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The ILC has a total footprint of about 31 km and is designed for a peak luminosity of 2x10^34 cm^-2 s^-1. The complex includes a polarized electron source, an undulator-based positron source, two 6.7 km circumference damping rings, two-stage bunch compressors, two 11 km long main linacs and a 4.5 km long beam delivery system. This report is Volume III (Accelerator) of the four volume Reference Design Report, which describes the design and cost of the ILC