927 research outputs found
Skycorr: A general tool for spectroscopic sky subtraction
Airglow emission lines, which dominate the optical-to-near-IR sky radiation,
show strong, line-dependent variability on various time scales. Therefore, the
subtraction of the sky background in the affected wavelength regime becomes a
problem if plain sky spectra have to be taken at a different time as the
astronomical data. A solution of this issue is the physically motivated scaling
of the airglow lines in the plain sky data to fit the sky lines in the object
spectrum. We have developed a corresponding instrument-independent approach
based on one-dimensional spectra. Our code skycorr separates sky lines and
sky/object continuum by an iterative approach involving a line finder and
airglow line data. The sky lines are grouped according to their expected
variability. The line groups in the sky data are then scaled to fit the sky in
the science data. Required pixel-specific weights for overlapping groups are
taken from a comprehensive airglow model. Deviations in the wavelength
calibration are corrected by fitting Chebyshev polynomials and rebinning via
asymmetric damped sinc kernels. The scaled sky lines and the sky continuum are
subtracted separately. VLT X-Shooter data covering time intervals from two
minutes to about one year were selected to illustrate the performance. Except
for short time intervals of a few minutes, the sky line residuals were several
times weaker than for sky subtraction without fitting. Further tests show that
skycorr performs consistently better than the method of Davies (2007) developed
for VLT SINFONI data.Comment: 17 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Investigating the Filled Gel Model in Cheddar Cheese Through Use of Sephadex Beads
Cheese can be modeled as a filled gel whereby milkfat globules are dispersed in a casein gel network. We determined the filler effects using Sephadex beads (GE Healthcare Life Sciences, Pittsburgh, PA) as a model filler particle. Ideally, such a model could be used to test novel filler particles to replace milkfat in low-fat cheese. Low-filler (6% particles), reduced-filler (16%), and full-filler (33%) cheeses were produced using either Sephadex beads of varying sizes (20 to 150 ÎĽm diameter) or milkfat. Small- and large-strain rheological tests were run on each treatment at 8, 12, and 18 wk after cheese manufacturing. Differences in rheological properties were caused primarily by the main effects of filler volume and type (milkfat vs. Sephadex), whereas filler size had no obvious effect. All treatments showed a decrease in deformability and an increase in firmness as filler volume increased above 25%, although the beads exhibited a greater reinforcing effect and greater energy recovery than milkfat
Molecfit: A general tool for telluric absorption correction. I. Method and application to ESO instruments
Context: The interaction of the light from astronomical objects with the
constituents of the Earth's atmosphere leads to the formation of telluric
absorption lines in ground-based collected spectra. Correcting for these lines,
mostly affecting the red and infrared region of the spectrum, usually relies on
observations of specific stars obtained close in time and airmass to the
science targets, therefore using precious observing time. Aims: We present
molecfit, a tool for correcting for telluric absorption lines based on
synthetic modelling of the Earth's atmospheric transmission. Molecfit is
versatile and can be used with data obtained with various ground-based
telescopes and instruments. Methods: Molecfit combines a publicly available
radiative transfer code, a molecular line database, atmospheric profiles, and
various kernels to model the instrument line spread function. The atmospheric
profiles are created by merging a standard atmospheric profile representative
of a given observatory's climate, of local meteorological data, and of
dynamically retrieved altitude profiles for temperature, pressure, and
humidity. We discuss the various ingredients of the method, its applicability,
and its limitations. We also show examples of telluric line correction on
spectra obtained with a suite of ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) instruments.
Results: Compared to previous similar tools, molecfit takes the best results
for temperature, pressure, and humidity in the atmosphere above the observatory
into account. As a result, the standard deviation of the residuals after
correction of unsaturated telluric lines is frequently better than 2% of the
continuum. Conclusion: Molecfit is able to accurately model and correct for
telluric lines over a broad range of wavelengths and spectral resolutions.
(Abridged)Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in Astronomy
and Astrophysic
Spin-structures of N-boson systems with nonzero spins - an analytically solvable model with pairing force
A model is proposed to study the possible pairing structures of N-boson
systems with nonzero spin. Analytical solutions have been obtained. The
emphasis is placed on the spin-structures of ground states with attractive or
repulsive pairing force, and with or without the action of a magnetic field. A
quantity (an analogue of the two-body density function) is defined to study the
spin-correlation between two bosons in N-body systems. The excitation of the
system has also been studied.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Few-Body System
Mid-Season High-Resolution Satellite Imagery for Forecasting Site-Specific Corn Yield
Citation: Peralta, N.R.; Assefa, Y.; Du, J.; Barden, C.J.; Ciampitti, I.A. Mid-Season High-Resolution Satellite Imagery for Forecasting Site-Specific Corn Yield. Remote Sens. 2016, 8, 848.This technical note presents the first Sentinel-2 data service platform for obtaining atmospherically-corrected images and generating the corresponding value-added products for any land surface on Earth (http://s2.boku.eodc.eu/). Using the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sen2Cor algorithm, the platform processes ESA’s Level-1C top-of-atmosphere reflectance to atmospherically-corrected bottom-of-atmosphere (BoA) reflectance (Level-2A). The processing runs on-demand, with a global coverage, on the Earth Observation Data Centre (EODC), which is a public-private collaborative IT infrastructure in Vienna (Austria) for archiving, processing, and distributing Earth observation (EO) data (http://www.eodc.eu). Using the data service platform, users can submit processing requests and access the results via a user-friendly web page or using a dedicated application programming interface (API). Building on the processed Level-2A data, the platform also creates value-added products with a particular focus on agricultural vegetation monitoring, such as leaf area index (LAI) and broadband hemispherical-directional reflectance factor (HDRF). An analysis of the performance of the data service platform, along with processing capacity, is presented. Some preliminary consistency checks of the algorithm implementation are included to demonstrate the expected product quality. In particular, Sentinel-2 data were compared to atmospherically-corrected Landsat-8 data for six test sites achieving a R2 = 0.90 and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) = 0.031. LAI was validated for one test site using ground estimations. Results show a very good agreement (R2 = 0.83) and a RMSE of 0.32 m2/m2 (12% of mean value)
Stellar science from a blue wavelength range - A possible design for the blue arm of 4MOST
From stellar spectra, a variety of physical properties of stars can be
derived. In particular, the chemical composition of stellar atmospheres can be
inferred from absorption line analyses. These provide key information on large
scales, such as the formation of our Galaxy, down to the small-scale
nucleosynthesis processes that take place in stars and supernovae. By extending
the observed wavelength range toward bluer wavelengths, we optimize such
studies to also include critical absorption lines in metal-poor stars, and
allow for studies of heavy elements (Z>38) whose formation processes remain
poorly constrained. In this context, spectrographs optimized for observing blue
wavelength ranges are essential, since many absorption lines at redder
wavelengths are too weak to be detected in metal-poor stars. This means that
some elements cannot be studied in the visual-redder regions, and important
scientific tracers and science cases are lost. The present era of large public
surveys will target millions of stars. Here we describe the requirements
driving the design of the forthcoming survey instrument 4MOST, a multi-object
spectrograph commissioned for the ESO VISTA 4m-telescope. We focus here on
high-density, wide-area survey of stars and the science that can be achieved
with high-resolution stellar spectroscopy. Scientific and technical
requirements that governed the design are described along with a thorough line
blending analysis. For the high-resolution spectrograph, we find that a
sampling of >2.5 (pixels per resolving element), spectral resolution of 18000
or higher, and a wavelength range covering 393-436 nm, is the most
well-balanced solution for the instrument. A spectrograph with these
characteristics will enable accurate abundance analysis (+/-0.1 dex) in the
blue and allow us to confront the outlined scientific questions. (abridged)Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A
Mid-Season High-Resolution Satellite Imagery for Forecasting Site-Specific Corn Yield
A timely and accurate crop yield forecast is crucial to make better decisions on crop management, marketing, and storage by assessing ahead and implementing based on expected crop performance. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of high-resolution satellite imagery data collected at midgrowing season for identification of within-field variability and to forecast corn yield at different sites within a field. A test was conducted on yield monitor data and RapidEye satellite imagery obtained for 22 cornfields located in five different counties (Clay, Dickinson, Rice, Saline, and Washington) of Kansas (total of 457 ha).
Three basic tests were conducted on the data: (1) spatial dependence on each of the yield and vegetation indices (VIs) using Moran’s I test; (2) model selection for the relationship between imagery data and actual yield using ordinary least square regression (OLS) and spatial econometric (SPL) models; and (3) model validation for yield forecasting purposes. Spatial autocorrelation analysis (Moran’s I test) for both yield and VIs (red edge NDVI = NDVIre, normalized difference vegetation index = NDVIr, SRre = red-edge simple ratio, near infrared = NIR and green-NDVI = NDVIG) was tested positive and statistically significant for most of the fields (p < 0.05), except for one. Inclusion of spatial adjustment to model improved the model fit on most fields as compared to OLS models, with the spatial adjustment coefficient significant for half of the fields studied. When selected models were used for prediction to validate dataset, a striking similarity (RMSE = 0.02) was obtained between predicted and observed yield within a field. Yield maps could assist implementing more effective site-specific management tools and could be utilized as a proxy of yield monitor data. In summary, high-resolution satellite imagery data can be reasonably used to forecast yield via utilization of models that include spatial adjustment to inform precision agricultural management decisions.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ
Evolution of optically faint AGN from COMBO-17 and GEMS
We have mapped the AGN luminosity function and its evolution between z=1 and
z=5 down to apparent magnitudes of . Within the GEMS project we have
analysed HST-ACS images of many AGN in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South,
enabling us to assess the evolution of AGN host galaxy properties with cosmic
time.Comment: to appear in proceedings 'Multiwavelength AGN Surveys', Cozumel 200
Cosmological weak lensing with the HST GEMS survey
We present our cosmic shear analysis of GEMS, one of the largest wide-field
surveys ever undertaken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Imaged with the Advanced
Camera for Surveys (ACS), GEMS spans 795 square arcmin in the Chandra Deep
Field South. We detect weak lensing by large-scale structure in high resolution
F606W GEMS data from ~60 resolved galaxies per square arcminute. We measure the
two-point shear correlation function, the top-hat shear variance and the shear
power spectrum, performing an E/B mode decomposition for each statistic. We
show that we are not limited by systematic errors and use our results to place
joint constraints on the matter density parameter Omega_m and the amplitude of
the matter power spectrum sigma_8. We find sigma_8(Omega_m/0.3)^{0.65}=0.68 +/-
0.13 where the 1sigma error includes both our uncertainty on the median
redshift of the survey and sampling variance.
Removing image and point spread function (PSF) distortions are crucial to all
weak lensing analyses. We therefore include a thorough discussion on the degree
of ACS PSF distortion and anisotropy which we characterise directly from GEMS
data. Consecutively imaged over 20 days, GEMS data also allows us to
investigate PSF instability over time. We find that, even in the relatively
short GEMS observing period, the ACS PSF ellipticity varies at the level of a
few percent which we account for with a semi-time dependent PSF model. Our
correction for the temporal and spatial variability of the PSF is shown to be
successful through a series of diagnostic tests.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures. Version accepted by MNRA
Geochemical evidence of the seasonality, affinity and pigmenation of Solenopora jurassica
Solenopora jurassica is a fossil calcareous alga that functioned as an important reef-building organism during the Palaeozoic. It is of significant palaeobiological interest due to its distinctive but poorly understood pink and white banding. Though widely accepted as an alga there is still debate over its taxonomic affinity, with recent work arguing that it should be reclassified as a chaetetid sponge. The banding is thought to be seasonal, but there is no conclusive evidence for this. Other recent work has, however demonstrated the presence of a unique organic boron-containing pink/red pigment in the pink bands of S. jurassica. We present new geochemical evidence concerning the seasonality and pigmentation of S. jurassica. Seasonal growth cycles are demonstrated by X-ray radiography, which shows differences in calcite density, and by varying δ13C composition of the bands. Temperature variation in the bands is difficult to constrain accurately due to conflicting patterns arising from Mg/Ca molar ratios and δ18O data. Fluctuating chlorine levels indicate increased salinity in the white bands, when combined with the isotope data this suggests more suggestive of marine conditions during formation of the white band and a greater freshwater component (lower chlorinity) during pink band precipitation (δ18O). Increased photosynthesis is inferred within the pink bands in comparison to the white, based on δ13C. Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (Py-GCMS) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) show the presence of tetramethyl pyrrole, protein moieties and carboxylic acid groups, suggestive of the presence of the red algal pigment phycoerythrin. This is consistent with the pink colour of S. jurassica. As phycoerythrin is only known to occur in algae and cyanobacteria, and no biomarker evidence of bacteria or sponges was detected we conclude S. jurassica is most likely an alga. Pigment analysis may be a reliable classification method for fossil algae
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