Making Colony Pcr Easier By Adding Gel-loading Buffer To The Amplification Reaction.

28424, 42

The effects of the target material properties and layering on the crater chronology: the case of Raditladi and Rachmaninoff basins on Mercury

In this paper we present a crater age determination of several terrains associated with the Raditladi and Rachmaninoff basins. These basins were discovered during the first and third MESSENGER flybys of Mercury, respectively. One of the most interesting features of both basins is their relatively fresh appearance. The young age of both basins is confirmed by our analysis on the basis of age determination via crater chronology. The derived Rachmaninoff and Raditladi basin model ages are about 3.6 Ga and 1.1 Ga, respectively. Moreover, we also constrain the age of the smooth plains within the basins' floors. This analysis shows that Mercury had volcanic activity until recent time, possibly to about 1 Ga or less. We find that some of the crater size-frequency distributions investigated suggest the presence of a layered target. Therefore, within this work we address the importance of considering terrain parameters, as geo-mechanical properties and layering, into the process of age determination. We also comment on the likelihood of the availability of impactors able to form basins with the sizes of Rachmaninoff and Raditladi in relatively recent times.Comment: Accepted by PSS, to appear on MESSENGER Flybys special issu

Contrasting responses of forest growth and carbon sequestration to heat and drought in the Alps

>Climate change is expected to increase both the frequency and the intensity of climate extremes, consequently increasing the risk of forest role transition from carbon sequestration to carbon emission. These changes are occurring more rapidly in the Alps, with important consequences for tree species adapted to strong climate seasonality and short growing season. In this study, we aimed at investigating the responses of a high-altitude Larix decidua Mill. forest to heat and drought, by coupling ecosystem- and tree-level measurements. From 2012 to 2018, ecosystem carbon and water fluxes (i.e., gross primary production, net ecosystem exchange, and evapotranspiration) were measured by means of the eddy covariance technique, together with the monitoring of canopy development (i.e., larch phenology and normalized difference vegetation index). From 2015 to 2017 we carried out additional observations at the tree level, including stem growth and its duration, direct phenological observations, sap flow, and tree water deficit. Results showed that the warm spells in 2015 and 2017 caused an advance of the phenological development and, thus, of the seasonal trajectories of many processes, at both tree and ecosystem level. However, we did not observe any significant quantitative changes regarding ecosystem gas exchanges during extreme years. In contrast, in 2017 we found a reduction of 17% in larch stem growth and a contraction of 45% of the stem growth period. The growing season in 2017 was indeed characterized by different drought events and by the highest water deficit during the study years. Due to its multi-level approach, our study provided evidence of the independence between C-source (i.e., photosynthesis) and C-sink (i.e., tree stem growth) processes in a subalpine larch forest

Seasonal southern circum-polar spots and araneiforms observed with the colour and stereo surface imaging system (CaSSIS)

The southern polar area of Mars is home to various seasonal activity commonly explained by the Kieffer model. During southern spring, the ice covering the polar area sublimates and leaves distinct features (spiders, spots, fans) observable from orbit. The Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), provides high-resolution multi-filter images of the Martian surface offering high sensitivity to colour contrasts. Its stereo capability is pivotal for momentary processes and offers a unique perspective for studying surface sublimation processes and their relation to atmospheric features. For the first time, we identify clouds well correlated with surface features (araneiforms and spots at southern circum-polar latitudes) hence motivating a new campaign to refine these observations over time periods where CO2 sublimation processes occur. We focus here on the structure of spot deposits and their evolution through time. We identify and describe seven structures: dark spot, bright-haloed spot, ringed spot, inverted spot, dark-haloed spot, banded spot, and bright spot. By morphological and spectral analyses, we hypothesize a new chronology of events that characterise the origin, formation and evolution of these features

Neutral sodium from comet Hale-Bopp: a third type of tail

We report on the discovery and analysis of a striking neutral sodium gas tail associated with comet C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp. Sodium D-line emission has been observed at heliocentric distance r<1.4 AU in some long-period comets and the presence of neutral sodium in the tailward direction of a few bright comets has been noted, but the extent, and in particular the source, has never been clear. Here we describe the first observations and analysis of a neutral sodium gas tail in comet Hale-Bopp, entirely different from the previously known ion and dust tails. We show that the observed characteristics of this third type of tail are consistent with itbeing produced by radiation pressure due to resonance fluorescence of sodium atoms and that the lifetime for photoionization is consistent with recent theoretical calculation

Fauna associada ao psilídeo das ponteiras do eucalipto, Blastopsylla occidentalis (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae) em casa de vegetação.

Resumo

Shape modeling technique KOALA validated by ESA Rosetta at (21) Lutetia

We present a comparison of our results from ground-based observations of asteroid (21) Lutetia with imaging data acquired during the flyby of the asteroid by the ESA Rosetta mission. This flyby provided a unique opportunity to evaluate and calibrate our method of determination of size, 3-D shape, and spin of an asteroid from ground-based observations. We present our 3-D shape-modeling technique KOALA which is based on multi-dataset inversion. We compare the results we obtained with KOALA, prior to the flyby, on asteroid (21) Lutetia with the high-spatial resolution images of the asteroid taken with the OSIRIS camera on-board the ESA Rosetta spacecraft, during its encounter with Lutetia. The spin axis determined with KOALA was found to be accurate to within two degrees, while the KOALA diameter determinations were within 2% of the Rosetta-derived values. The 3-D shape of the KOALA model is also confirmed by the spectacular visual agreement between both 3-D shape models (KOALA pre- and OSIRIS post-flyby). We found a typical deviation of only 2 km at local scales between the profiles from KOALA predictions and OSIRIS images, resulting in a volume uncertainty provided by KOALA better than 10%. Radiometric techniques for the interpretation of thermal infrared data also benefit greatly from the KOALA shape model: the absolute size and geometric albedo can be derived with high accuracy, and thermal properties, for example the thermal inertia, can be determined unambiguously. We consider this to be a validation of the KOALA method. Because space exploration will remain limited to only a few objects, KOALA stands as a powerful technique to study a much larger set of small bodies using Earth-based observations.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in P&S

SMART-1 Impact Ground-based campaign

Based on predictions of impact magnitude and cloud ejecta dynamics, we organized a SMART-1 ground-based observation campaign to perform coordinated measurements of the impact. Results from the coordinated multi-site campaign will be discussed

IT-SNOW: a snow reanalysis for Italy blending modeling, in situ data, and satellite observations (2010-2021)

We present IT-SNOW, a serially complete and multi-year snow reanalysis for Italy (similar to 301 x 10(3) km(2)) - a transitional continental-to-Mediterranean region where snow plays an important but still poorly constrained societal and ecological role. IT-SNOW provides similar to 500 m daily maps of snow water equivalent (SWE), snow depth, bulk snow density, and liquid water content for the initial period 1 September 2010-31 August 2021, with future updates envisaged on a regular basis. As the output of an operational chain employed in real-world civil protection applications (S3M Italy), IT-SNOW ingests input data from thousands of automatic weather stations, snow-covered-area maps from Sentinel-2, MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), and H SAF products, as well as maps of snow depth from the spatialization of over 350 on-the-ground snow depth sensors. Validation using Sentinel-1-based maps of snow depth and a variety of independent, in situ snow data from three focus regions (Aosta Valley, Lombardy, and Molise) show little to no mean bias compared to the former, and root mean square errors are of the typical order of 30-60 cm and 90-300 mm for in situ, measured snow depth and snow water equivalent, respectively. Estimates of peak SWE by IT-SNOW are also well correlated with annual streamflow at the closure section of 102 basins across Italy (0.87), with ratios between peak water volume in snow and annual streamflow that are in line with expectations for this mixed rain-snow region (22 % on average and 12 % median). Examples of use allowed us to estimate 13.70 +/- 4.9 Gm3 of water volume stored in snow across the Italian landscape at peak accumulation, which on average occurs on 4 March +/- 10 d. Nearly 52 % of the mean seasonal SWE is accumulated across the Po river basin, followed by the Adige river (23 %), and central Apennines (5 %). IT-SNOW is freely available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7034956 (Avanzi et al., 2022b) and can contribute to better constraining the role of snow for seasonal to annual water resources - a crucial endeavor in a warming and drier climate

Sensitivity of snow models to the accuracy of meteorological forcings in mountain environments

Snow models are usually evaluated at sites providing high-quality meteorological data, so that the uncertainty in the meteorological input data can be neglected when assessing model performances. However, high-quality input data are rarely available in mountain areas and, in practical applications, the meteorological forcing used to drive snow models is typically derived from spatial interpolation of the available in situ data or from reanalyses, whose accuracy can be considerably lower. In order to fully characterize the performances of a snow model, the model sensitivity to errors in the input data should be quantified. In this study we test the ability of six snow models to reproduce snow water equivalent, snow density and snow depth when they are forced by meteorological input data with gradually lower accuracy. The SNOWPACK, GEOTOP, HTESSEL, UTOPIA, SMASH and S3M snow models are forced, first, with high-quality measurements performed at the experimental site of Torgnon, located at 2160ma.s.l. in the Italian Alps (control run). Then, the models are forced by data at gradually lower temporal and/or spatial resolution, obtained by (i) sampling the original Torgnon 30 min time series at 3, 6, and 12 h, (ii) spatially interpolating neighbouring in situ station measurements and (iii) extracting information from GLDAS, ERA5 and ERA-Interim reanalyses at the grid point closest to the Torgnon site. Since the selected models are characterized by different degrees of complexity, from highly sophisticated multi-layer snow models to simple, empirical, single-layer snow schemes, we also discuss the results of these experiments in relation to the model complexity. The results show that, when forced by accurate 30 min resolution weather station data, the single-layer, intermediatecomplexity snow models HTESSEL and UTOPIA provide similar skills to the more sophisticated multi-layer model SNOWPACK, and these three models show better agreement with observations and more robust performances over different seasons compared to the lower-complexity models SMASH and S3M. All models forced by 3-hourly data provide similar skills to the control run, while the use of 6- A nd 12-hourly temporal resolution forcings may lead to a reduction in model performances if the incoming shortwave radiation is not properly represented. The SMASH model generally shows low sensitivity to the temporal degradation of the input data. Spatially interpolated data from neighbouring stations and reanalyses are found to be adequate forcings, provided that temperature and precipitation variables are not affected by large biases over the considered period. However, a simple bias-adjustment technique applied to ERA-Interim temperatures allowed all models to achieve similar performances to the control run. Regardless of their complexity, all models show weaknesses in the representation of the snow density