Arctic cloud macrophysical characteristics from CloudSat and CALIPSO

The lidar and radar profiling capabilities of the CloudSat and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder (CALIPSO) satellites provide opportunities to improve the characterization of cloud properties. An Arctic cloud climatology based on their observations may be fundamentally different from earlier Arctic cloud climatologies based on passive satellite observations, which have limited contrast between the cloud and underlying surface. Specifically, the Radar–Lidar Geometrical Profile product (RL-GEOPROF) provides cloud vertical profiles from the combination of active lidar and radar. Based on this data product for the period July 2006 to March 2011, this paper presents a new cloud macrophysical property characteristic analysis for the Arctic, including cloud occurrence fraction (COF), vertical distributions, and probability density functions (PDF) of cloud base and top heights. Seasonal mean COF shows maximum values in autumn, minimum values in winter, and moderate values in spring and summer; this seasonality ismore prominent over the Arctic Ocean on the Pacific side. The mean ratios of multi-layer cloud to total cloud over the ocean and land are between 24% and 28%. Low-level COFs are higher over ocean than over land. The ratio of low-level cloud to total cloud is also higher over ocean. Middle-level and high-level COFs are smaller over ocean than over land except in summer, and the ratios of middle-level and highlevel clouds to total cloud are also smaller over ocean. Over the central Arctic Ocean, PDFs of cloud top height and cloud bottomheight show (1) two cloud top height PDF peaks, one for cloud top heights lower than 1200 mand another between 7 and 9 km; and (2) high frequency for cloud base below 1000 m with the majority of cloud base heights lower than 2000 m

Planning, implementation and scientific goals of the Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) field mission

The Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) field mission based at Ellington Field, Texas, during August and September 2013 employed the most comprehensive airborne payload to date to investigate atmospheric composition over North America. The NASA ER-2, DC-8, and SPEC Inc. Learjet flew 57 science flights from the surface to 20 km. The ER-2 employed seven remote sensing instruments as a satellite surrogate and eight in situ instruments. The DC-8 employed 23 in situ and five remote sensing instruments for radiation, chemistry, and microphysics. The Learjet used 11 instruments to explore cloud microphysics. SEAC4RS launched numerous balloons, augmented AErosol RObotic NETwork, and collaborated with many existing ground measurement sites. Flights investigating convection included close coordination of all three aircraft. Coordinated DC-8 and ER-2 flights investigated the optical properties of aerosols, the influence of aerosols on clouds, and the performance of new instruments for satellite measurements of clouds and aerosols. ER-2 sorties sampled stratospheric injections of water vapor and other chemicals by local and distant convection. DC-8 flights studied seasonally evolving chemistry in the Southeastern U.S., atmospheric chemistry with lower emissions of NOx and SO2 than in previous decades, isoprene chemistry under high and low NOx conditions at different locations, organic aerosols, air pollution near Houston and in petroleum fields, smoke from wildfires in western forests and from agricultural fires in the Mississippi Valley, and the ways in which the chemistry in the boundary layer and the upper troposphere were influenced by vertical transport in convective clouds

Preliminary Trigonometric Parallaxes of 184 Late-T and Y Dwarfs and an Analysis of the Field Substellar Mass Function into the "Planetary" Mass Regime

We present preliminary trigonometric parallaxes of 184 late-T and Y dwarfs using observations from Spitzer (143), USNO (18), NTT (14), and UKIRT (9). To complete the 20-pc census of $\ge$T6 dwarfs, we combine these measurements with previously published trigonometric parallaxes for an additional 44 objects and spectrophotometric distance estimates for another 7. For these 235 objects, we estimate temperatures, sift into five 150K-wide $T_{\rm eff}$ bins covering the range 300-1050K, determine the completeness limit for each, and compute space densities. To anchor the high-mass end of the brown dwarf mass spectrum, we compile a list of early- to mid-L dwarfs within 20 pc. We run simulations using various functional forms of the mass function passed through two different sets of evolutionary code to compute predicted distributions in $T_{\rm eff}$. The best fit of these predictions to our L, T, and Y observations is a simple power-law model with $\alpha \approx 0.6$ (where $dN/dM \propto M^{-\alpha}$), meaning that the slope of the field substellar mass function is in rough agreement with that found for brown dwarfs in nearby star forming regions and young clusters. Furthermore, we find that published versions of the log-normal form do not predict the steady rise seen in the space densities from 1050K to 350K. We also find that the low-mass cutoff to formation, if one exists, is lower than $\sim$5 $M_{Jup}$, which corroborates findings in young, nearby moving groups and implies that extremely low-mass objects have been forming over the lifetime of the Milky Way.Comment: 86 pages with 19 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series on 2018 Dec 0

Planning, implementation, and scientific goals of the studies of emissions and atmospheric composition, clouds and climate coupling by regional surveys (SEAC\u3csup\u3e4\u3c/sup\u3eRS) field mission

The Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) fieldmission based at Ellington Field, Texas, during August and September 2013 employed the most comprehensive airborne payload to date to investigate atmospheric composition over North America. The NASA ER-2, DC-8, and SPEC Inc. Learjet flew 57 science flights fromthe surface to 20 km. The ER-2 employed seven remote sensing instruments as a satellite surrogate and eight in situ instruments. The DC-8 employed 23 in situ and five remote sensing instruments for radiation, chemistry, and microphysics. The Learjet used 11 instruments to explore cloud microphysics. SEAC4RS launched numerous balloons, augmented AErosol RObotic NETwork, and collaborated with many existing ground measurement sites. Flights investigating convection included close coordination of all three aircraft. Coordinated DC-8 and ER-2 flights investigated the optical properties of aerosols, the influence of aerosols on clouds, and the performance of new instruments for satellite measurements of clouds and aerosols. ER-2 sorties sampled stratospheric injections of water vapor and other chemicals by local and distant convection. DC-8 flights studied seasonally evolving chemistry in the Southeastern U.S., atmospheric chemistry with lower emissions of NOx and SO2 than in previous decades, isoprene chemistry under high and low NOx conditions at different locations, organic aerosols, air pollution near Houston and in petroleum fields, smoke from wildfires in western forests and from agricultural fires in the Mississippi Valley, and the ways in which the chemistry in the boundary layer and the upper troposphere were influenced by vertical transport in convective clouds

Preliminary Trigonometric Parallaxes of 184 Late-T and Y Dwarfs and an Analysis of the Field Substellar Mass Function into the "Planetary" Mass Regime

We present preliminary trigonometric parallaxes of 184 late-T and Y dwarfs using observations from Spitzer (143), the U.S. Naval Observatory (18), the New Technology Telescope (14), and the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (9). To complete the 20 pc census of ⩾T6 dwarfs, we combine these measurements with previously published trigonometric parallaxes for an additional 44 objects and spectrophotometric distance estimates for another 7. For these 235 objects, we estimate temperatures, sift into five 150 K wide T_(eff) bins covering the range 300–1050 K, determine the completeness limit for each, and compute space densities. To anchor the high-mass end of the brown dwarf mass spectrum, we compile a list of early- to mid-L dwarfs within 20 pc. We run simulations using various functional forms of the mass function passed through two different sets of evolutionary code to compute predicted distributions in T_(eff). The best fit of these predictions to our L, T, and Y observations is a simple power-law model with α ≈ 0.6 (where dN/dM ∝ M^(-α)), meaning that the slope of the field substellar mass function is in rough agreement with that found for brown dwarfs in nearby star-forming regions and young clusters. Furthermore, we find that published versions of the log-normal form do not predict the steady rise seen in the space densities from 1050 to 350 K. We also find that the low-mass cutoff to formation, if one exists, is lower than ~5 M_(Jup), which corroborates findings in young, nearby moving groups and implies that extremely low-mass objects have been forming over the lifetime of the Milky Way

The Macroecology of Sustainability

Global consumption rates of vital resources suggest that we have surpassed the capacity of the Earth to sustain current levels, much less future trajectories of growth in human population and economy

Estimating Grizzly and Black Bear Population Abundance and Trend in Banff National Park Using Noninvasive Genetic Sampling

We evaluated the potential of two noninvasive genetic sampling methods, hair traps and bear rub surveys, to estimate population abundance and trend of grizzly (Ursus arctos) and black bear (U. americanus) populations in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Using Huggins closed population mark-recapture models, we obtained the first precise abundance estimates for grizzly bears ( = 73.5, 95% CI = 64–94 in 2006;  = 50.4, 95% CI = 49–59 in 2008) and black bears ( = 62.6, 95% CI = 51–89 in 2006;  = 81.8, 95% CI = 72–102 in 2008) in the Bow Valley. Hair traps had high detection rates for female grizzlies, and male and female black bears, but extremely low detection rates for male grizzlies. Conversely, bear rubs had high detection rates for male and female grizzlies, but low rates for black bears. We estimated realized population growth rates, lambda, for grizzly bear males ( = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.74–1.17) and females ( = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.67–1.20) using Pradel open population models with three years of bear rub data. Lambda estimates are supported by abundance estimates from combined hair trap/bear rub closed population models and are consistent with a system that is likely driven by high levels of human-caused mortality. Our results suggest that bear rub surveys would provide an efficient and powerful means to inventory and monitor grizzly bear populations in the Central Canadian Rocky Mountains

The Early Growth Genetics (EGG) and EArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) consortia : design, results and future prospects

The impact of many unfavorable childhood traits or diseases, such as low birth weight and mental disorders, is not limited to childhood and adolescence, as they are also associated with poor outcomes in adulthood, such as cardiovascular disease. Insight into the genetic etiology of childhood and adolescent traits and disorders may therefore provide new perspectives, not only on how to improve wellbeing during childhood, but also how to prevent later adverse outcomes. To achieve the sample sizes required for genetic research, the Early Growth Genetics (EGG) and EArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) consortia were established. The majority of the participating cohorts are longitudinal population-based samples, but other cohorts with data on early childhood phenotypes are also involved. Cohorts often have a broad focus and collect(ed) data on various somatic and psychiatric traits as well as environmental factors. Genetic variants have been successfully identified for multiple traits, for example, birth weight, atopic dermatitis, childhood BMI, allergic sensitization, and pubertal growth. Furthermore, the results have shown that genetic factors also partly underlie the association with adult traits. As sample sizes are still increasing, it is expected that future analyses will identify additional variants. This, in combination with the development of innovative statistical methods, will provide detailed insight on the mechanisms underlying the transition from childhood to adult disorders. Both consortia welcome new collaborations. Policies and contact details are available from the corresponding authors of this manuscript and/or the consortium websites.Peer reviewe