1,233 research outputs found
Performance of a low-cost methane sensor for ambient concentration measurements in preliminary studies
Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after CO<sub>2</sub> and contributes to global warming. Its sources are not uniformly distributed across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and most of the methane flux is expected to stem from hotspots which often occupy a very small fraction of the total landscape area. Continuous time-series measurements of CH<sub>4</sub> concentrations can help identify and locate these methane hotspots. Newer, low-cost trace gas sensors such as the Figaro TGS 2600 can detect CH<sub>4</sub> even at ambient concentrations. Hence, in this paper we tested this sensor under real-world conditions over Toolik Lake, Alaska, to determine its suitability for preliminary studies before placing more expensive and service-intensive equipment at a given locality. A reasonably good agreement with parallel measurements made using a Los Gatos Research FMA 100 methane analyzer was found after removal of the strong sensitivities for temperature and relative humidity. Correcting for this sensitivity increased the absolute accuracy required for in-depth studies, and the reproducibility between two TGS 2600 sensors run in parallel is very good. We conclude that the relative CH<sub>4</sub> concentrations derived from such sensors are sufficient for preliminary investigations in the search of potential methane hotspots
Interferometric measurement of resonance transition wavelengths in C IV, Si IV, Al III, Al II, and Si II
We have made the first interferomeric measurements of the wavelengths of the
important ultraviolet diagnostic lines in the spectra \ion{C}{4} near 155 nm
and \ion{Si}{4} near 139 nm with a vacuum ultraviolet Fourier transform
spectrometer and high-current discharge sources. The wavelength uncertainties
were reduced by one order of magnitude for the \ion{C}{4} lines and by two
orders of magnitude for the \ion{Si}{4} lines. Our measurements also provide
accurate wavelengths for resonance transitions in \ion{Al}{3}, \ion{Al}{2}, and
\ion{Si}{2}.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl
A Cellular Automaton Model for Diffusive and Dissipative Systems
We study a cellular automaton model, which allows diffusion of energy (or
equivalently any other physical quantities such as mass of a particular
compound) at every lattice site after each timestep. Unit amount of energy is
randomly added onto a site. Whenever the local energy content of a site reaches
a fixed threshold , energy will be dissipated. Dissipation of energy
propagates to the neighboring sites provided that the energy contents of those
sites are greater than or equal to another fixed threshold . Under such dynamics, the system evolves into three different types of
states depending on the values of and as reflected in their
dissipation size distributions, namely: localized peaks, power laws, or
exponential laws. This model is able to describe the behaviors of various
physical systems including the statistics of burst sizes and burst rates in
type-I X-ray bursters. Comparisons between our model and the famous forest-fire
model (FFM) are made.Comment: in REVTEX 3.0. Figures available on request. Extensively revised.
Accepted by Phys.Rev.
Arctic Amplification of Global Warming Strengthened by Sunlight Oxidation of Permafrost Carbon to CO2
Once thawed, up to 15% of the âŒ1,000âPg of organic carbon (C) in arctic permafrost soils may be oxidized to carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2,100, amplifying climate change. However, predictions of this amplification strength ignore the oxidation of permafrost C to CO2 in surface waters (photomineralization). We characterized the wavelength dependence of permafrost dissolved organic carbon (DOC) photomineralization and demonstrate that iron catalyzes photomineralization of old DOC (4,000â6,300 a BP) derived from soil lignin and tannin. Rates of CO2 production from photomineralization of permafrost DOC are twofold higher than for modern DOC. Given that model predictions of future net loss of ecosystem C from thawing permafrost do not include the loss of CO2 to the atmosphere from DOC photomineralization, current predictions of an average of 208 Pg C loss by 2,299 may be too low by ~14%.Plain Language SummaryThe thawing of organic carbon stored in arctic permafrost soils, and its oxidation to carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas), is predicted to be a major, positive feedback on global warming. However, current estimates of the magnitude of this feedback do not include the oxidation of permafrost soil organic carbon flushed to sunlit lakes and rivers. Here we show that ancient dissolved organic carbon (>4,000 years old) draining permafrost soils is readily oxidized to carbon dioxide by sunlight. As a consequence, current estimates of additional global warming from the permafrost carbon feedback are too low.Key PointsWavelength dependence of permafrost dissolved organic carbon (DOC) photomineralization revealed a high lability to visible lightIron catalyzes the photomineralization of old permafrost DOC (>4,000 a BP) derived from soil lignin and tannin to carbon dioxide (CO2)Photomineralization rates of permafrost DOC to CO2 are double that of modern DOC, which will increase future arctic amplificationPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155897/1/grl60761.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155897/2/grl60761_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155897/3/grl60761-sup-0001-2020GL087085-SI.pd
Charge Transfer in Partition Theory
The recently proposed Partition Theory (PT) [J.Phys.Chem.A 111, 2229 (2007)]
is illustrated on a simple one-dimensional model of a heteronuclear diatomic
molecule. It is shown that a sharp definition for the charge of molecular
fragments emerges from PT, and that the ensuing population analysis can be used
to study how charge redistributes during dissociation and the implications of
that redistribution for the dipole moment. Interpreting small differences
between the isolated parts' ionization potentials as due to environmental
inhomogeneities, we gain insight into how electron localization takes place in
H2+ as the molecule dissociates. Furthermore, by studying the preservation of
the shapes of the parts as different parameters of the model are varied, we
address the issue of transferability of the parts. We find good transferability
within the chemically meaningful parameter regime, raising hopes that PT will
prove useful in chemical applications.Comment: 12 pages, 16 figure
Gas buildup in Lake Nyos, Cameroon: The recharge process and its consequences
The gases dissolved in Lake Nyos, Cameroon, were quantified recently (December 1989 and September 1990) by two independent techniques: in-situ measurements using a newly designed probe and laboratory analyses of samples collected in pre-evacuated stainless steel cylinders. The highest concentrations of CO2 and CH4 were 0.30 mol/kg and 1.7 mmol/kg, respectively, measured in cylinders collected 1 m above lake bottom. Probe measurements of in-situ gas pressure at three different stations showed that horizontal variations in total dissolved gas were negligible. Total dissolved-gas pressure near the lake bottom is 1.06 MPa (10.5 atm), 50% as high as the hydrostatic pressure of 2.1 MPa (21 atm). Comparing the CO2 profile constructed from the 1990 data to one obtained in May 1987 shows that CO2 concentrations have increased at depths to below 150 m. Based on these profiles, the average rate of CO2 input to bottom waters was 2.6 x 108 mol/a. Increased deep-water temperatures require an average heat flow of 0.32 MW into the hypolimnion over the same time period. The transport rates of CO2, heat, and major ions into the hypolimnion suggest that a low-temperature reservoir of free CO2 exists a short distance below lake bottom and that convective cycling of lake water through the sediments is involved in transporting the CO2 into the lake from the underlying diatreme. Increased CH4 concentrations at all depths below the oxycline and a high 14C content (41% modern) in the CH4 4 m above lake bottom show that much of the CH4 is biologically produced within the lake. The CH4 production rate may vary with time, but if the CO2 recharge rate remains constant, CO2 saturation of the entire hypolimnion below 50 m depth would require ~140 a, given present-day concentrations.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30812/1/0000471.pd
'Chardonel' Grape
'Chardonel' resulted from the cross, 'SeyvaT x 'Chardonnay,'
made in 1953. Fruit were first observed in 1958, and the
original vine was propagated in 1960 under the number NY
45010. In later testing, it was re-named GW 9 (Geneva White 9)
for ease of identification in cooperatively run yield trials. The
vine was initially described as vigorous and productive with
large clusters
String Field Theory Projectors for Fermions of Integral Weight
The interaction vertex for a fermionic first order system of weights (1,0)
such as the twisted bc-system, the fermionic part of N=2 string field theory
and the auxiliary \eta\xi system of N=1 strings is formulated in the Moyal
basis. In this basis, the Neumann matrices are diagonal; as usual, the
eigenvectors are labeled by \kappa\in\R. Oscillators constructed from these
eigenvectors make up two Clifford algebras for each nonzero value of \kappa.
Using a generalization of the Moyal-Weyl map to the fermionic case, we classify
all projectors of the star-algebra which factorize into projectors for each
\kappa-subspace. At least for the case of squeezed states we recover the full
set of bosonic projectors with this property. Among the subclass of ghost
number-homogeneous squeezed state projectors, we find a single class of
BPZ-real states parametrized by one (nearly) arbitrary function of \kappa. This
class is shown to contain the generalized butterfly states. Furthermore, we
elaborate on sufficient and necessary conditions which have to be fulfilled by
our projectors in order to constitute surface states. As a byproduct we find
that the full star product of N=2 string field theory translates into a
canonically normalized continuous tensor product of Moyal-Weyl products up to
an overall normalization. The divergent factors arising from the translation to
the continuous basis cancel between bosons and fermions in any even dimension.Comment: LaTeX, 1+23 pages, minor improvements, references adde
Attosecond electron spectroscopy using a novel interferometric pump-probe technique
We present an interferometric pump-probe technique for the characterization
of attosecond electron wave packets (WPs) that uses a free WP as a reference to
measure a bound WP. We demonstrate our method by exciting helium atoms using an
attosecond pulse with a bandwidth centered near the ionization threshold, thus
creating both a bound and a free WP simultaneously. After a variable delay, the
bound WP is ionized by a few-cycle infrared laser precisely synchronized to the
original attosecond pulse. By measuring the delay-dependent photoelectron
spectrum we obtain an interferogram that contains both quantum beats as well as
multi-path interference. Analysis of the interferogram allows us to determine
the bound WP components with a spectral resolution much better than the inverse
of the attosecond pulse duration.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
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