793 research outputs found
The Intensity Profile of the Solar Supergranulation
We have measured the average radial (cell center to network boundary) profile
of the continuum intensity contrast associated with supergranular flows using
data from the Precision Solar Photometric Telescope (PSPT) at the Mauna Loa
Solar Observatory (MLSO). After removing the contribution of the network flux
elements by the application of masks based on Ca II K intensity and averaging
over more than 10^5 supergranular cells, we find a ~ 0.1% decrease in red and
blue continuum intensity from the supergranular cell centers outward,
corresponding to a ~ 1.0 K decrease in brightness temperature across the cells.
The radial intensity profile may be caused either by the thermal signal
associated with the supergranular flows or a variation in the packing density
of unresolved magnetic flux elements. These are not unambiguously distinguished
by the observations, and we raise the possibility that the network magnetic
fields play an active role in supergranular scale selection by enhancing the
radiative cooling of the deep photosphere at the cell boundaries.Comment: Accepted to Ap
Correlations and fault systematics in the Passamaquoddy Bay area, Southwestern New Brunswick
Three distinct fault-bounded litho-tectonic units have been recognized on Campobello Island in southern Passamaquoddy Bay. These units are the Upper Silurian Wilsons Beach beds, the Lower Silurian Quoddy Formation and the Upper Precambrian Coldbrook Group. Contact relationships between these units and their correlations in the Passamaquoddy Bay area resolve correlation problems between coastal Maine and New Brunswick, and demonstrate the nature of the junction between the Avalon Platform and the Acadian mobile belt. The Wilsons Beach beds are a remnant of the Acadian belt on northeastern Campobello Island, whereas the Coldbrook Group and the Quoddy Formation represent a fault block of the Avalon Platform. The Coldbrook Group, probably overlain unconformably by the Quoddy Formation, plunges to the southwest beneadi the Quoddy Formation of southeastern Maine.
The Siluro-Devonian basins formed in a tensional tectonic regime in response to normal(?) faulting. These faults formed along pre-existing zones of crustal weakness that were generated during the late Precambrian by major strike-slip faulting. The present geological configuration of the area was basically established by episodic reactivation of northeast-trending faults (high-angle reverse movements) during the compressional regime of the Acadian Orogeny,
RÉSUMÉ
On reconnait trois unités litho-techniques bordérs par des failles sur l'ile de Campobello dans le sud de la baie-de Passamaquoddy. Ce sont les lits de Wilson Beach (Silurien supérieur), la Formation de Quoddy (Silurien inférieur) et le Groupe de Coldbrook (Précambrien supérieur). La corrélation de ces unités et de leurs contacts dans la baie de Passamaquoddy résout les problèmes de corrélation entre la côte du Maine et le Nouveau-Brunswick et démontre la nature de la jonction entie la Plate-Forme d'Avalon et la ceinture mobile acadienne. Les lits de Wilson Beach sont un residu de la ceinture acadienne sur le nord-cst de l'ile de Campobello. Par contre, le Groupe de Coldbrook et la Formation de Quoddy représentent un bloc faillé de la Plate-Forme d'Avalon. Le Groupe de Coldbrook est probablement recouvert avec discordance par la Formation de Quoddy et plonge vers le sud-ouest sous la Formation de Quoddy dans le sud-est du Maine.
Les bassins siluro-dévoniens se formèrent dans un régime tectonique de tension en résponse à un mouvement normal(?) de failles. Ces failles se créerent le long de zones de faiblcsse crustale déjà établies et issues d'un important coulissement tardi-précambrien. La configuration géologique actuelle de la région s'établit principalement par réactivation épisodique de failles à tendance nord-est (mouvements inverses à fort pendage) durant le régime compressif de l'orogénèse acadienne,
[Traduit par le journal
The Role of Subsurface Flows in Solar Surface Convection: Modeling the Spectrum of Supergranular and Larger Scale Flows
We model the solar horizontal velocity power spectrum at scales larger than
granulation using a two-component approximation to the mass continuity
equation. The model takes four times the density scale height as the integral
(driving) scale of the vertical motions at each depth. Scales larger than this
decay with height from the deeper layers. Those smaller are assumed to follow a
Kolomogorov turbulent cascade, with the total power in the vertical convective
motions matching that required to transport the solar luminosity in a mixing
length formulation. These model components are validated using large scale
radiative hydrodynamic simulations. We reach two primary conclusions: 1. The
model predicts significantly more power at low wavenumbers than is observed in
the solar photospheric horizontal velocity spectrum. 2. Ionization plays a
minor role in shaping the observed solar velocity spectrum by reducing
convective amplitudes in the regions of partial helium ionization. The excess
low wavenumber power is also seen in the fully nonlinear three-dimensional
radiative hydrodynamic simulations employing a realistic equation of state.
This adds to other recent evidence suggesting that the amplitudes of large
scale convective motions in the Sun are significantly lower than expected.
Employing the same feature tracking algorithm used with observational data on
the simulation output, we show that the observed low wavenumber power can be
reproduced in hydrodynamic models if the amplitudes of large scale modes in the
deep layers are artificially reduced. Since the large scale modes have reduced
amplitudes, modes on the scale of supergranulation and smaller remain important
to convective heat flux even in the deep layers, suggesting that small scale
convective correlations are maintained through the bulk of the solar convection
zone.Comment: 36 pages, 6 figure
Radiative emission of solar features in Ca II K
We investigated the radiative emission of different types of solar features
in the spectral range of the Ca II K line.
We analyzed full-disk 2k x 2k observations from the PSPT Precision Solar
Photometric Telescope. The data were obtained by using three narrow-band
interference filters that sample the Ca II K line with different pass bands.
Two filters are centered in the line core, the other in the red wing of the
line. We measured the intensity and contrast of various solar features,
specifically quiet Sun (inter-network), network, enhanced network, plage, and
bright plage (facula) regions. Moreover, we compared the results obtained with
those derived from the numerical synthesis performed for the three PSPT filters
with a widely used radiative code on a set of reference semi-empirical
atmosphere models.Comment: In Proceedings of the 25th NSO Workshop: Chromospheric Structure and
Dynamic
Recommended from our members
Understanding the Role of Small-Scale Flux in Solar Spectral Irradiance Variation
Global solar spectral irradiance variations depend on changes inmagnetic flux concentrations at the smallest scales. Modeling has focused on the contributions of magnetic structures in full disk images as those contributions have strong center-to-limb dependencies, but these dependencies have never been determined radiometrically; only the photometric intensity relative to some reference ’quiet-sun’1, themagnetic structure contrast, is measurable with ground based imagery. This is problematic because unre- solved inhomogeneities influence not only the full-disk structure intensities themselves, but also the quiet-sun background against which their contrast is measured. We thus argue that, to understand the physical causes underlying solar spectral irradiance varia- tions, two fundamental questionsmust be addressed: What is the real Iλ(µ) as a function of B in full-disk images? This can only be answered by imaging the Sun radiometrically from space, and we propose a Radiometric Solar Imager design. What governs spectral irradiance changes at sub arc-second scales? This can be addressed by a combination of high resolution ground based imaging (ATST-VBI) and three dimensional radiative magnetohydrodynamic modeling, and we propose a synoptic approach. Finally, a way to account for the variance introduced by unresolved substructure in spectral irradiance modeling must be devised. This is critical, as imaging and modeling at the highest resolutions but over the full solar disk will likely remain unattainable for some time
Estimation of soil and vegetation temperatures with multiangular thermal infrared observations: IMGRASS, HEIFE, and SGP 1997 experiments
The potential of directional observations in the thermal infrared region for land surface studies is a largely uncharted area of research. The availability of the dual-view Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) observations led to explore new opportunities in this direction. In the context of studies on heat transfer at heterogeneous land surfaces, multiangular thermal infrared (TIR) observations offer the opportunity of overcoming fundamental difficulties in modeling sparse canopies. Three case studies were performed on the estimation of the component temperatures of foliage and soil. The first one included the use of multi-temporal field measurements at view angles of 0°, 23° and 52°. The second and third one were done with directional ATSR observations at view angles of 0° and 53° only. The first one was a contribution to the Inner-Mongolia Grassland Atmosphere Surface Study (IMGRASS) experiment in China, the second to the Hei He International Field Experiment (HEIFE) in China and the third one to the Southern Great Plains 1997 (SGP 1997) experiment in Oklahoma, United States. The IMGRASS experiment provided useful insights on the applicability of a simple linear mixture model to the analysis of observed radiance. The HEIFE case study was focused on the large oasis of Zhang-Ye and led to useful estimates of soil and vegetation temperatures. The SGP 1997 contributed a better understanding of the impact of spatial heterogeneity on the accuracy of retrieved foliage and soil temperatures. Limitations in the approach due to varying radiative and boundary layer forcing and to the difference in spatial resolution between the forward and the nadir view are evaluated through a combination of modeling studies and analysis of field data
High-resolution models of solar granulation: the 2D case
Using grid refinement, we have simulated solar granulation in 2D. The refined
region measures 1.97*2.58 Mm (vertical*horizontal). Grid spacing there is
1.82*2.84 km. The downflows exhibit strong Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities.
Below the photosphere, acoustic pulses are generated. They proceed laterally
(in some cases distances of at least the size of our refined domain) and may be
enhanced when transversing downflows) as well as upwards where, in the
photosphere they contribute significantly to 'turbulence' (velocity gradients,
etc.) The acoustic pulses are ubiquitous in that at any time several of them
are seen in our high-resolution domain. Their possible contributions to p-mode
excitation or heating of the chromosphere needs to be investigated
Peaks and Troughs in Helioseismology: The Power Spectrum of Solar Oscillations
I present a matched-wave asymptotic analysis of the driving of solar
oscillations by a general localised source. The analysis provides a simple
mathematical description of the asymmetric peaks in the power spectrum in terms
of the relative locations of eigenmodes and troughs in the spectral response.
It is suggested that the difference in measured phase function between the
modes and the troughs in the spectrum will provide a key diagnostic of the
source of the oscillations. I also suggest a form for the asymmetric line
profiles to be used in the fitting of solar power spectra.
Finally I present a comparison between the numerical and asymptotic
descriptions of the oscillations. The numerical results bear out the
qualitative features suggested by the asymptotic analysis but suggest that
numerical calculations of the locations of the troughs will be necessary for a
quantitative comparison with the observations.Comment: 18 pages + 8 separate figures. To appear in Ap
Latitudinal variation of the solar photospheric intensity
We have examined images from the Precision Solar Photometric Telescope (PSPT)
at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO) in search of latitudinal variation in
the solar photospheric intensity. Along with the expected brightening of the
solar activity belts, we have found a weak enhancement of the mean continuum
intensity at polar latitudes (continuum intensity enhancement
corresponding to a brightness temperature enhancement of ).
This appears to be thermal in origin and not due to a polar accumulation of
weak magnetic elements, with both the continuum and CaIIK intensity
distributions shifted towards higher values with little change in shape from
their mid-latitude distributions. Since the enhancement is of low spatial
frequency and of very small amplitude it is difficult to separate from
systematic instrumental and processing errors. We provide a thorough discussion
of these and conclude that the measurement captures real solar latitudinal
intensity variations.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figs, accepted in Ap
Computational Modeling of Electromagnetically Induced Heating of Magnetic Nanoparticle Materials for Hyperthermic Cancer Treatment
Abstract-We present work on the computational modeling of electromagnetically induced heating in the hyperthermic treatment of cancer using fluid-dispersed magnetic nanoparticles. Magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia can be used as a complement to chemotherapy or for direct targeting and destruction of tumors through heat treatment. The ability of nanoscale materials to provide an extremely localized therapeutic effect is a major advantage over traditional methods of treatment. When an AC magnetic field is applied to a ferrofluid, Brownian rotation and Néel relaxation of induced magnetic moments result in power dissipation. In order to achieve appreciable volumetric heating, while maintaining safe values of frequency and magnetic field strength, and to reduce the risk of spot heating of healthy tissue, it is necessary to determine an ideal range of input parameters for the driving magnetic field as well as the complex susceptibility of the ferrofluid. We do this by the coupling of the solution of Maxwell's equations in a model of the tumor and surrounding tissue as input to the solution to the Pennes' Bioheat Equation (PBE). In this study, we solve both sets of equations via the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method as implemented in the program SEMCAD X (by SPEAG, Schmid & Partner Engineering). We use a multilayer model of the human head made up of perfused dermal and skeletal layers and a grey-matter region surrounding a composite region of tumor tissue and the magnetic nanoparticle fluid. The tumor/ferrofluid composite material properties are represented as mean values of the material properties of both constituents, assuming homogeneity of the region. The AC magnetic excitation of the system (within 100 kHz-2 MHz frequency range) is provided by square Helmholtz coils, which provide a uniform magnetic field in the region of interest. The power density derived from the electromagnetic field calculation serves as an input term to the bioheat equation and therefore determines the heating due to the ferrofluid. Results for several variations of input parameters will be presented
- …