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A comparison among four different retrieval methods for ice-cloud properties using data from CloudSat, CALIPSO, and MODIS
The A-Train constellation of satellites provides a new capability to measure vertical cloud profiles that leads to more detailed information on ice-cloud microphysical properties than has been possible up to now. A variational radar–lidar ice-cloud retrieval algorithm (VarCloud) takes advantage of the complementary nature of the CloudSat radar and Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) lidar to provide a seamless retrieval of ice water content, effective radius, and extinction coefficient from the thinnest cirrus (seen only by the lidar) to the thickest ice cloud (penetrated only by the radar). In this paper, several versions of the VarCloud retrieval are compared with the CloudSat standard ice-only retrieval of ice water content, two empirical formulas that derive ice water content from radar reflectivity and temperature, and retrievals of vertically integrated properties from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) radiometer. The retrieved variables typically agree to within a factor of 2, on average, and most of the differences can be explained by the different microphysical assumptions. For example, the ice water content comparison illustrates the sensitivity of the retrievals to assumed ice particle shape. If ice particles are modeled as oblate spheroids rather than spheres for radar scattering then the retrieved ice water content is reduced by on average 50% in clouds with a reflectivity factor larger than 0 dBZ. VarCloud retrieves optical depths that are on average a factor-of-2 lower than those from MODIS, which can be explained by the different assumptions on particle mass and area; if VarCloud mimics the MODIS assumptions then better agreement is found in effective radius and optical depth is overestimated. MODIS predicts the mean vertically integrated ice water content to be around a factor-of-3 lower than that from VarCloud for the same retrievals, however, because the MODIS algorithm assumes that its retrieved effective radius (which is mostly representative of cloud top) is constant throughout the depth of the cloud. These comparisons highlight the need to refine microphysical assumptions in all retrieval algorithms and also for future studies to compare not only the mean values but also the full probability density function
Experimental hydrodynamics of the accelerated turbulent boundary layer with and without mass injection
Hydrodynamics of accelerated turbulent boundary layer with and without mass injectio
Similar glassy features in the NMR response of pure and disordered La1.88Sr0.12CuO4
High Tc superconductivity in La2-xSrxCuO4 coexists with (striped and glassy)
magnetic order. Here, we report NMR measurements of the 139La spin-lattice
relaxation, which displays a stretched-exponential time dependence, in both
pure and disordered x=0.12 single crystals. An analysis in terms of a
distribution of relaxation rates T1^-1 indicates that i) the spin-freezing
temperature is spatially inhomogeneous with an onset at Tg(onset)=20 K for the
pristine samples, and ii) the width of the T1^-1 distribution in the vicinity
of Tg(onset) is insensitive to an ~1% level of atomic disorder in CuO2 planes.
This suggests that the stretched-exponential 139La relaxation, considered as a
manifestation of the systems glassiness, may not arise from quenched disorder.Comment: 7 pages, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Absorbing Phase Transitions of Branching-Annihilating Random Walks
The phase transitions to absorbing states of the branching-annihilating
reaction-diffusion processes mA --> (m+k)A, nA --> (n-l)A are studied
systematically in one space dimension within a new family of models. Four
universality classes of non-trivial critical behavior are found. This provides,
in particular, the first evidence of universal scaling laws for pair and
triplet processes.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Dark energy with non-adiabatic sound speed: initial conditions and detectability
Assuming that the universe contains a dark energy fluid with a constant
linear equation of state and a constant sound speed, we study the prospects of
detecting dark energy perturbations using CMB data from Planck,
cross-correlated with galaxy distribution maps from a survey like LSST. We
update previous estimates by carrying a full exploration of the mock data
likelihood for key fiducial models. We find that it will only be possible to
exclude values of the sound speed very close to zero, while Planck data alone
is not powerful enough for achieving any detection, even with lensing
extraction. We also discuss the issue of initial conditions for dark energy
perturbations in the radiation and matter epochs, generalizing the usual
adiabatic conditions to include the sound speed effect. However, for most
purposes, the existence of attractor solutions renders the perturbation
evolution nearly independent of these initial conditions.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures, version accepted in JCA
Exactly solvable models of adaptive networks
A satisfiability (SAT-UNSAT) transition takes place for many optimization
problems when the number of constraints, graphically represented by links
between variables nodes, is brought above some threshold. If the network of
constraints is allowed to adapt by redistributing its links, the SAT-UNSAT
transition may be delayed and preceded by an intermediate phase where the
structure self-organizes to satisfy the constraints. We present an analytic
approach, based on the recently introduced cavity method for large deviations,
which exactly describes the two phase transitions delimiting this adaptive
intermediate phase. We give explicit results for random bond models subject to
the connectivity or rigidity percolation transitions, and compare them with
numerical simulations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
A search for passive protoplanetary disks in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region
We conducted a 12-month monitoring campaign of 33 T Tauri stars (TTS) in
Taurus. Our goal was to monitor objects that possess a disk but have a weak
Halpha line, a common accretion tracer for young stars, to determine whether
they host a passive circumstellar disk. We used medium-resolution optical
spectroscopy to assess the objects' accretion status and to measure the Halpha
line. We found no convincing example of passive disks; only transition disk and
debris disk systems in our sample are non-accreting. Among accretors, we find
no example of flickering accretion, leading to an upper limit of 2.2% on the
duty cycle of accretion gaps assuming that all accreting TTS experience such
events. Combining literature results with our observations, we find that the
reliability of traditional Halpha-based criteria to test for accretion is high
but imperfect, particularly for low-mass TTS. We find a significant correlation
between stellar mass and the full width at 10 per cent of the peak (W10%) of
the Halpha line that does not seem to be related to variations in free-fall
velocity. Finally, our data reveal a positive correlation between the Halpha
equivalent width and its W10%, indicative of a systematic modulation in the
line profile whereby the high-velocity wings of the line are proportionally
more enhanced than its core when the line luminosity increases. We argue that
this supports the hypothesis that the mass accretion rate on the central star
is correlated with the Halpha W10% through a common physical mechanism.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS; 26 pages, 9 figures, 3 table
Transform-limited single photons from a single quantum dot
A semiconductor quantum dot mimics a two-level atom. Performance as a single
photon source is limited by decoherence and dephasing of the optical
transition. Even with high quality material at low temperature, the optical
linewidths are a factor of two larger than the transform-limit. A major
contributor to the inhomogeneous linewdith is the nuclear spin noise. We show
here that the nuclear spin noise depends on optical excitation, increasing
(decreasing) with increasing resonant laser power for the neutral (charged)
exciton. Based on this observation, we discover regimes where we demonstrate
transform-limited linewidths on both neutral and charged excitons even when the
measurement is performed very slowly
Resonant Metalenses for Breaking the Diffraction Barrier
We introduce the resonant metalens, a cluster of coupled subwavelength
resonators. Dispersion allows the conversion of subwavelength wavefields into
temporal signatures while the Purcell effect permits an efficient radiation of
this information in the far-field. The study of an array of resonant wires
using microwaves provides a physical understanding of the underlying mechanism.
We experimentally demonstrate imaging and focusing from the far-field with
resolutions far below the diffraction limit. This concept is realizable at any
frequency where subwavelength resonators can be designed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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