Tethered balloon measurements during Arctic autumn conditions in the framework of HALO-(AC)3

The BalloonbornE moduLar Utility for profilinG the lower Atmosphere (BELUGA) was deployed in autumn 2021 in the Arctic at the AWIPEV research station in Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard). In-situ profiles of thermodynamic parameters, broadband radiation, turbulence, aerosol particle concentrations, and cloud microphysical structure, were performed. Additionally, samples of ice nucleating particles were collected. Thermal infrared radiation profiles are presented for different cloud conditions. The data provides the base for studying the vertical distribution of cloud radiative effects, and extends the common view of the bi-modal distribution of the Arctic surface energy budget.Das Fesselballonsystem BalloonbornE moduLar Utility for profilinG the lower Atmosphere (BELUGA) wurde im Herbst 2021 an der Forschungsstation Ny-Ålesund in der Arktis eingesetzt. Es wurden In-situ Profile von thermodynamischen Parametern, breitbandiger Strahlung, Turbulenz, Aerosolpartikelkonzentrationen und der mikrophysikalischer Wolkenstruktur erstellt. Zusätzlich wurden Proben von eiskeimbildenden Partikeln gesammelt. Strahlungsprofile wurden unter verschiedenen Wolkenbedeckungen gemessen und quantifizieren die vertikale Verteilung der Wolkenstrahlungseffekte. Die Profilmessungen erweitern damit die für bodennahe Messungen bekannte modale Verteilung des Energiehaushalts der Arktis

Access to N-alkylated amino acids by microbial fermentation

N-methylated amino acids are found in many pharmaceutically active compounds and have been shown to improve pharmacokinetic properties as constituents of peptide drugs since N-methylation of amino acids may result in conformational changes, improved proteolytic stability and higher lipophilicity of the peptide drug.1 N-methylated amino acids are mainly produced chemically or by biocatalysis, however with low yields or high costs for co-factor regeneration. First, we established a fermentative route for production of N-mehtyl-L-glutamate by Pseudomonas putida from glucose and glycerol. Interception of the C1 assimilation pathway of Methylobacterium extorquence yielded N-methyl-L-glutamate titers of 17.9 g L-1 in fed-batch cultivation.2 Due to high substrate specificity of this C1 assimilation pathway genes, we continued with an independent pathway for extension of the product range. Therefore, we focus on pathway-design for N-methylated amino acids by the industrially relevant production host Corynebacterium glutamicum. Metabolic engineering of C. glutamicum led to an expanded product range of proteinogenic amino acids like L-valine2 but also ω-amino acids like γ-aminobutyrate and diamines like putrescine3. The rare imine reductase DpkA from P. putida KT2440 catalyzes the reductive methylamination of pyruvate as side activity. Implementation of DpkA into the central carbon metabolism of the pyruvate overproducing C. glutamicum strain ELB-P4 yielded N-methyl-L-alanine production. Optimization of carbon- and nitrogen ratios of the minimal medium allowed production of up to 10.5 g L-1 when cultivated in shake flasks. N-methyl-L-alanine titers of 31.7 g L-1 with a yield of 0.71 g per g glucose were achieved in fed-batch cultivation5. Due to the somewhat relaxed substrate scope of DpkA, the product portfolio of N-methylated amino acids produced by fermentation could be successfully extended. Changing the base strain to a glyoxylate producing C. glutamicum strain6 achieved production of 2.6 g L-1 sarcosine, the N-methylated glycine derivative, from glucose. Sarcosine production based on the second generation feedstocks xylose and arabinose led to higher product titers than glucose-based production and optimization of substrate composition led to a titer of 8.7 g L-1 sarcosine. This is the first example in which a C. glutamicum process using lignocellulosic pentoses is superior to glucose-based production. By mutation of the active site of DpkA, a mutant with higher specific activity towards glyoxylate (30.3 ± 2.7 U mg-1; wild type enzyme 25.7 ± 1.8 U mg-1) was identified. Therefore, the mutant DpkAF117L was incorporated into the production strain and enabled faster sarcosine production. Additionally, this mutation led to an increased activity towards reductive ethylamination of glyoxylate (31.2 ± 1.1 U mg-1; wild type enzyme 25.3 ± 3.2 U mg-1). As a result, the fermentative production of N-ethylglycine showed enhanced volumetric productivity compared to the strain harboring the wild type enzyme. Fermentative access to N-methylated amino acids was achieved by two independent pathway designs. First, we enabled N-methyl-L-glutamate production by pathway interception in P. putida. Additionally, introduction of the imine reductase gene dpkA from P. putida into various 2-oxoacid producing C. glutamicum strains extended the product range. Optimization of medium composition, preferred substrate specificity of the strain or the enzyme itself resulted in excellent production yields. 1 Chatterjee J, Rechenmacher F and Kesser H, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2013, 52, 254-269. 2 Mindt M, Walter T, Risser JM and Wendisch VF, Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol., 2018, 6, 159. 3 Wendisch VF, Mindt M and Pérez-García F, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 2018, 102, 3583-3594. 4 Wieschalka S, Blombach B and Eikmanns BJ, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 2012, 94, 449-459. 5 Mindt M, Risse JM, Gruß H, Sewald N, Eikmanns BJ and Wendisch VF, Sci. Rep., 2018, 8, 12895. 6 Zahoor A, Otten A and Wendisch VF, J. Biotechnol., 2014, 192, 366-37

Cloud phase identification of Arctic boundary-layer clouds from airborne spectral reflection measurements: Test of three approaches

Arctic boundary-layer clouds were investigated with remote sensing and in situ instruments during the Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation (ASTAR) campaign in March and April 2007. The clouds formed in a cold air outbreak over the open Greenland Sea. Beside the predominant mixed-phase clouds pure liquid water and ice clouds were observed. Utilizing measurements of solar radiation reflected by the clouds three methods to retrieve the thermodynamic phase of the cloud are introduced and compared. Two ice indices IS and IP were obtained by analyzing the spectral pattern of the cloud top reflectance in the near infrared (1500–1800 nm wavelength) spectral range which is characterized by ice and water absorption. While IS analyzes the spectral slope of the reflectance in this wavelength range, IS utilizes a principle component analysis (PCA) of the spectral reflectance. A third ice index IA is based on the different side scattering of spherical liquid water particles and nonspherical ice crystals which was recorded in simultaneous measurements of spectral cloud albedo and reflectance. Radiative transfer simulations show that IS, IP and IA range between 5 to 80, 0 to 8 and 1 to 1.25 respectively with lowest values indicating pure liquid water clouds and highest values pure ice clouds. The spectral slope ice index IS and the PCA ice index IP are found to be strongly sensitive to the effective diameter of the ice crystals present in the cloud. Therefore, the identification of mixed-phase clouds requires a priori knowledge of the ice crystal dimension. The reflectance-albedo ice index IA is mainly dominated by the uppermost cloud layer (τ<1.5). Therefore, typical boundary-layer mixed-phase clouds with a liquid cloud top layer will be identified as pure liquid water clouds. All three methods were applied to measurements above a cloud field observed during ASTAR 2007. The comparison with independent in situ microphysical measurements shows the ability of the three approaches to identify the ice phase in Arctic boundary-layer clouds

Forest albedo in the context of different cloud situations derived from irradiance measurements at the Leipzig floodplain crane: A pilot study

The surface albedo significantly modulates the atmospheric energy budget and, thus, vertical radiation, energy, and mass fluxes. Therefore, it regulates the local and regional effects of climate warming. Over a forest canopy, the surface albedo mainly depends on the seasonal leaf state. Furthermore, for certain surface types, such as snow, it has been shown that the surface albedo changes as a function of cloudiness. A similar effect is expected over forest surfaces, leading to complex feedback loops between forest surfaces and climate. To investigate these processes, a pilot study was performed at the Leipzig floodplain crane to observe the forest canopy albedo under different atmospheric conditions in 2021. First analyses revealed a dependency of the forest albedo from the cloud state, which is slightly stronger in the near-infrared wavelength range compared to the visible wavelength range.Der atmosphärische Strahlungshaushalt und damit auch die vertikale Strahlungsverteilung, Energie- und Massenflüsse werden signifikant durch die Bodenalbedo gesteuert. Diese regulieren somit lokale und regionale Effekte der Klimaerwärmung. Über einem Wald hängt die Bodenalbedo hauptsächlich vom saisonalen Blattstatus ab. Zudem wurde für bestimmte Bodentypen wie Schneeoberflächen gezeigt, dass die Bodenalbedo eine Funktion der Bewölkung ist. Ähnlicher Effekte werden für Waldoberflächen erwartet, welche zu komplexen Rückkopplungseffekten zwischenWaldoberflächen und dem Klima führen. Um diese Prozesse zu untersuchen wurde im Jahr 2021 eine Vorstudie am Leipziger Auwaldkran durchgeführt, um die Waldalbedo unter verschiedenen atmosphärischen Bedingungen zu beobachten. Erste Analysen zeigen, dass auch die Albedo des Waldes von den Bewölkungsbedingungen abhängt. Der Effekt ist dabei etwas stärker im nah-infrarotem als im sichtbaren Wellenlängenbereich zu beobachten

CIRRUS-HL: Overview of LIM contributions

From June to July 2021, the Leipzig Institute for Meteorology (LIM) participated in the Cirrus in High Latitudes (CIRRUS-HL) campaign. Utilizing the German High Altitude Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO), 24 research flights were conducted out of Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. The initial goal of the campaign was to sample high-latitude cirrus clouds with a combination of in-situ and remote sensing instrumentation. However, due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the flights had to be carried out from southern Germany instead of northern Sweden. Thus, the flight time in Arctic latitudes was limited. Therefore, more objectives concerning midlatitude cirrus were included in the campaign goals. LIM contributed to CIRRUS-HL with measurements by the Broadband AirCrAft RaDiometer Instrumentation (BACARDI) and the Spectral Modular Airborne Radiation measurement sysTem (SMART). While BACARDI measured broadband solar and terrestrial upward and downward irradiance, SMART measured spectrally resolved solar upward radiance as well as upward and downward irradiance.Von Juni bis Juli 2021 nahmen einige Mitarbeitende des LIM an der CIRRUS-HL Kampagne teil. Mit dem deutschen Forschungsflugzeug HALO (High Altitude Long Range Research Aircraft) wurden 24 Forschungsflüge von Oberpfaffenhofen, Deutschland, aus durchgeführt. Ursprüngliches Ziel der Kampagne war es, Zirruswolken in hohen Breitengraden mit einer Kombination aus In-situ- und Fernerkundungsinstrumenten zu untersuchen. Aufgrund der weltweiten Corona-Pandemie mussten die Flüge jedoch von Süddeutschland statt von Nordschweden aus durchgeführt werden. Daher wurden weitere Ziele in Bezug auf Zirruswolken in mittleren Breiten in die Ziele der Kampagne aufgenommen. Das LIM-Team betrieb die breitbandigen und spektralen Strahlungssensoren BACARDI (Broadband AirCrAft RaDiometer Instrumentation) und SMART (Spectral Modular Airborne Radiation measurement sysTem), wobeiBACARDI die breitbandige solare und terrestrische Auf- und Abwärtsstrahlung und SMART die spektral aufgelöste solareAuf- undAbwärtsstrahlung sowie dieAufwärtsstrahlungsdichte maß

Optical thickness and effective radius of Arctic boundary-layer clouds retrieved from airborne nadir and imaging spectrometry

Arctic boundary-layer clouds in the vicinity of Svalbard (78° N, 15° E) were observed with airborne remote sensing and in situ methods. The cloud optical thickness and the droplet effective radius are retrieved from spectral radiance data from the nadir spot (1.5°, 350–2100 nm) and from a nadir-centred image (40°, 400–1000 nm). Two approaches are used for the nadir retrieval, combining the signal from either two or five wavelengths. Two wavelengths are found to be sufficient for an accurate retrieval of the cloud optical thickness, while the retrieval of droplet effective radius is more sensitive to the number of wavelengths. Even with the comparison to in-situ data, it is not possible to definitely answer the question which method is better. This is due to unavoidable time delays between the in-situ measurements and the remote-sensing observations, and to the scarcity of vertical in-situ profiles within the cloud

VELOX - a new thermal infrared imager for airborne remote sensing of cloud and surface properties

The new airborne thermal infrared (TIR) imager VELOX (Video airbornE Longwave Observations within siX channels) is introduced. VELOX is a commercially available TIR camera system that has been adapted extensively for atmospheric applications, which are introduced in this paper. The system covers six spectral bands with centre wavelengths between 7.7 and 12 µm. Currently, VELOX is installed on board the German High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO) to observe cloud and surface properties. It provides observations of two-dimensional (2D) fields of upward terrestrial spectral radiance with a horizontal resolution of approximately 10 m×10 m at a target distance of 10 km. Atmospheric temperature values are rather low compared to the originally intended commercial applications of VELOX and range close to the detection limit of the sensor. This challenge requires additional calibration efforts to enable atmospheric applications of VELOX. Therefore, required sophisticated calibration and correction procedures, including radiometric calibrations, non-uniformity corrections, bad-pixel replacements, and window corrections, are presented. Furthermore, first observations of cloud properties acquired by VELOX during the EUREC4A (ElUcidating the RolE of Cloud-Circulation Coupling in ClimAte) campaign are discussed, including an analysis of the cloud top brightness temperature, cloud mask/fraction, and cloud top altitude data. The data reveal the potential of VELOX to resolve the cloud top temperature with a resolution of better than 0.1 K, which translates into a resolution of approximately 40 m in cloud top altitude

Metafiber transforming arbitrarily structured light

Structured light has proven useful for numerous photonic applications. However, the current use of structured light in optical fiber science and technology is severely limited by mode mixing or by the lack of optical elements that can be integrated onto fiber end-faces for complex wavefront control, and hence generation of structured light is still handled outside the fiber via bulky optics in free space. We report a metafiber platform capable of creating arbitrarily structured light on the hybrid-order Poincar\'e sphere. Polymeric metasurfaces, with unleashed height degree of freedom and a greatly expanded 3D meta-atom library, were laser nanoprinted and interfaced with polarization-maintaining single-mode fibers. Multiple metasurfaces were interfaced on the fiber end-faces, transforming the fiber output into different structured-light fields, including cylindrical vector beams, circularly polarized vortex beams, and an arbitrary vector field. Our work provides a new paradigm for advancing optical fiber science and technology towards fiber-integrated light shaping, which may find important applications in fiber communications, fiber lasers and sensors, endoscopic imaging, fiber lithography, and lab-on-fiber technology