High-resolution measurements of temperature and humidity fields in the atmospheric boundary layer with scanning rotational Raman lidar

The Institute of Physics and Meteorology of the University of Hohenheim (UHOH) operates a scanning rotational Raman lidar (RRL) for high-resolution temperature and water vapor measurements. The measurement performance of the RRL was improved in several aspects. The statistical error of temperature measurements was reduced by up to 70% through optimization of the filter passbands for various solar background conditions. The optimization method, based on detailed simulations, was written for one specific wavelength and was not applicable to other Raman lidar systems. Therefore the simulation results were parametrized in respect to temperature and background level and expressed in units of wavenumbers. A new interference filter transmitting rotational Raman lines near the excitation wavelength was installed, resulting in a higher transmission and eliminating possible leakage signal. A detection channel for the vibrational Raman line of water vapor was added for the retrieval of water vapor mixing ratios during day-and nighttime. More than 300 hours of temperature and more than 200 hours of water vapor measurements were performed and the acquired profiles used in several publications. Atmospheric variance and higher order moment profiles of the daytime atmospheric boundary layer were derived.Das Institut für Physik und Meteorologie der Universität Hohenheim (UHOH) betreibt ein scannendes Rotations-Raman-Lidar (RRL) für hochaufgelöste Messungen von Temperatur- und Wasserdampffeldern. Die Leistungsfähigkeit des Systems bezüglich der Genauigkeit und statistischer Messungenauigkeit konnte erheblich verbessert werden. Der statistische Messfehler wurde bis zu 70% reduziert durch die Abstimmung der detektierten Wellenlängenbereiche auf den Tageslichthintergrund. Die Optimierung basiert auf einer detaillierten Simulation der Rotations-Raman-Linien und der Filterkurven. Die Berechnungen wurden zuerst wellenlängenabhängig durchgeführt und waren daher nicht direkt übertragbar auf andere Ramanlidarsysteme. Deshalb wurden die Ergebnisse der Simulation parametrisiert bezüglich der Temperatur und dem Signalhintergrund und inWellenzahleinheiten angegeben. Ein neuer Interferenzfilter für den Wellenlängenbereich nahe der Anregungswellenlänge wurde eingebaut. Dieser besitzt eine höhere Maximaltransmission und eine erhöhte optische Dichte für die Anregungswellenlänge. Damit kann eine zusätzliches Fehlersignal in Bereichen mit hoher Rückstreuung vermieden werden. Ein Empfangskanal für das Vibrations-Raman-Signal von Wasserdampf ermöglicht die Messung desWasserdampfmischungverhältnisses. Mehr als 300 Stunden Temperaturmessungen und 200 Stunden Wasserdampfmessungen wurden durchgeführt und waren die Basis für mehrere Publikationen. Messdaten mit hoher zeitlicher Auflösung wurden verwendet um Varianzprofile und Profile der höheren Momente in der planetaren Grenzschicht zu ermitteln

Step size of the rotary proton motor in single FoF1-ATP synthase from a thermoalkaliphilic bacterium by DCO-ALEX FRET

Thermophilic enzymes can operate at higher temperatures but show reduced activities at room temperature. They are in general more stable during preparation and, accordingly, are considered to be more rigid in structure. Crystallization is often easier compared to proteins from bacteria growing at ambient temperatures, especially for membrane proteins. The ATP-producing enzyme FoF1-ATP synthase from thermoalkaliphilic Caldalkalibacillus thermarum strain TA2.A1 is driven by a Fo motor consisting of a ring of 13 c-subunits. We applied a single-molecule F\"orster resonance energy transfer (FRET) approach using duty cycle-optimized alternating laser excitation (DCO-ALEX) to monitor the expected 13-stepped rotary Fo motor at work. New FRET transition histograms were developed to identify the smaller step sizes compared to the 10-stepped Fo motor of the Escherichia coli enzyme. Dwell time analysis revealed the temperature and the LDAO dependence of the Fo motor activity on the single molecule level. Back-and-forth stepping of the Fo motor occurs fast indicating a high flexibility in the membrane part of this thermophilic enzyme.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure

Monitoring single membrane protein dynamics in a liposome manipulated in solution by the ABELtrap

FoF1-ATP synthase is the essential membrane enzyme maintaining the cellular level of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and comprises two rotary motors. We measure subunit rotation in FoF1-ATP synthase by intramolecular Foerster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between two fluorophores at the rotor and at the stator of the enzyme. Confocal FRET measurements of freely diffusing single enzymes in lipid vesicles are limited to hundreds of milliseconds by the transit times through the laser focus. We evaluate two different methods to trap the enzyme inside the confocal volume in order to extend the observation times. Monte Carlo simulations show that optical tweezers with low laser power are not suitable for lipid vesicles with a diameter of 130 nm. A. E. Cohen (Harvard) and W. E. Moerner (Stanford) have recently developed an Anti-Brownian electrokinetic trap (ABELtrap) which is capable to apparently immobilize single molecules, proteins, viruses or vesicles in solution. Trapping of fluorescent particles is achieved by applying a real time, position-dependent feedback to four electrodes in a microfluidic device. The standard deviation from a given target position in the ABELtrap is smaller than 200 nm. We develop a combination of the ABELtrap with confocal FRET measurements to monitor single membrane enzyme dynamics by FRET for more than 10 seconds in solution.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

The HD(CP)² Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) – an overview

The HD(CP)2 Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) was performed as a major 2-month field experiment in Jülich, Germany, in April and May 2013, followed by a smaller campaign in Melpitz, Germany, in September 2013. HOPE has been designed to provide an observational dataset for a critical evaluation of the new German community atmospheric icosahedral non-hydrostatic (ICON) model at the scale of the model simulations and further to provide information on land-surface–atmospheric boundary layer exchange, cloud and precipitation processes, as well as sub-grid variability and microphysical properties that are subject to parameterizations. HOPE focuses on the onset of clouds and precipitation in the convective atmospheric boundary layer. This paper summarizes the instrument set-ups, the intensive observation periods, and example results from both campaigns. HOPE-Jülich instrumentation included a radio sounding station, 4 Doppler lidars, 4 Raman lidars (3 of them provide temperature, 3 of them water vapour, and all of them particle backscatter data), 1 water vapour differential absorption lidar, 3 cloud radars, 5 microwave radiometers, 3 rain radars, 6 sky imagers, 99 pyranometers, and 5 sun photometers operated at different sites, some of them in synergy. The HOPE-Melpitz campaign combined ground-based remote sensing of aerosols and clouds with helicopter- and balloon-based in situ observations in the atmospheric column and at the surface. HOPE provided an unprecedented collection of atmospheric dynamical, thermodynamical, and micro- and macrophysical properties of aerosols, clouds, and precipitation with high spatial and temporal resolution within a cube of approximately 10  ×  10  ×  10 km3. HOPE data will significantly contribute to our understanding of boundary layer dynamics and the formation of clouds and precipitation. The datasets have been made available through a dedicated data portal. First applications of HOPE data for model evaluation have shown a general agreement between observed and modelled boundary layer height, turbulence characteristics, and cloud coverage, but they also point to significant differences that deserve further investigations from both the observational and the modelling perspective