466 research outputs found
The emission of energetic electrons from the complex streamer corona adjacent to leader stepping
We here propose a model to capture the complexity of the streamer corona
adjacent to leader stepping and relate it to the production of energetic
electrons serving as a source of X-rays and -rays, manifesting in
terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). During its stepping, the leader tip is
accompanied by a corona consisting of multitudinous streamers perturbing the
air in its vicinity and leaving residual charge behind. We explore the relative
importance of air perturbations and preionization on the production of
energetic run-away electrons by 2.5D cylindrical Monte Carlo particle
simulations of streamers in ambient fields of 16 kV cm and 50 kV
cm at ground pressure. We explore preionization levels between
m and m, channel widths between 0.5 and 1.5 times the
original streamer widths and air perturbation levels between 0\% and 50\% of
ambient air. We observe that streamers in preionized and perturbed air
accelerate more efficiently than in non-ionized and uniform air with air
perturbation dominating the streamer acceleration. We find that in unperturbed
air preionization levels of m are sufficient to explain
run-away electron rates measured in conjunction with terrestrial gamma-ray
flashes. In perturbed air, the production rate of runaway electrons varies from
s to s with maximum electron energies from
some hundreds of eV up to some hundreds of keV in fields above and below the
breakdown strength. In the presented simulations the number of runaway
electrons matches with the number of energetic electrons measured in alignment
with the observations of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes. Conclusively, the
complexity of the streamer zone ahead of leader tips allows explaining the
emission of energetic electrons and photons from streamer discharges.Comment: 29 pages, 11 figures, 2 table
Kinetic simulations of X-B and O-X-B mode conversion
We have performed fully-kinetic simulations of X-B and O-X-B mode conversion
in one and two dimensional setups using the PIC code EPOCH. We have recovered
the linear dispersion relation for electron Bernstein waves by employing
relatively low amplitude incoming waves. The setups presented here can be used
to study non-linear regimes of X-B and O-X-B mode conversion.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Submesoscale CO2 variability across an upwelling front off Peru
As a major source for atmospheric CO2, the Peruvian upwelling region exhibits strong variability in surface fCO2 on short spatial and temporal scales. Understanding the physical processes driving the strong variability is of fundamental importance for constraining the effect of marine emissions from upwelling regions on the global CO2 budget. In this study, a frontal decay on length scales of (10 km) was observed off the Peruvian coast following a pronounced decrease in down-frontal (equatorward) wind speed with a time lag of 9 h. Simultaneously, the sea-to-air flux of CO2 on the inshore (cold) side of the front dropped from up to 80 to 10 mmol m−2 day−1, while the offshore (warm) side of the front was constantly outgassing at a rate of 10–20 mmol m−2 day−1. Based on repeated ship transects the decay of the front was observed to occur in two phases. The first phase was characterized by a development of coherent surface temperature anomalies which gained in amplitude over 6–9 h. The second phase was characterized by a disappearance of the surface temperature front within 6 h. Submesoscale mixed-layer instabilities were present but seem too slow to completely remove the temperature gradient in this short time period. Dynamics such as a pressure-driven gravity current appear to be a likely mechanism behind the evolution of the front
Persistent azulene α-carbocations:synthesis from aldehydes, spectroscopic and crystallographic properties
The non-benzenoid aromatic system azulene is sufficiently nucleophilic at C1 that it can react with a protonated aldehyde to form an α-azulenyl alcohol. This in turn may be protonated and undergo loss of water to give an azulene α-carbocation. We report the isolation of such azulenyl cations as salts with non-coordinating anions. The salts have been characterised by NMR, UV/Vis absorption and (in certain cases) X-ray crystallography. Reduction of representative salts to afford azulenyl(aryl) methylenes has been demonstrated.</p
Persistent azulene α-carbocations:synthesis from aldehydes, spectroscopic and crystallographic properties
The non-benzenoid aromatic system azulene is sufficiently nucleophilic at C1 that it can react with a protonated aldehyde to form an α-azulenyl alcohol. This in turn may be protonated and undergo loss of water to give an azulene α-carbocation. We report the isolation of such azulenyl cations as salts with non-coordinating anions. The salts have been characterised by NMR, UV/Vis absorption and (in certain cases) X-ray crystallography. Reduction of representative salts to afford azulenyl(aryl) methylenes has been demonstrated.</p
Perturbing microwave beams by plasma density fluctuations
The propagation of microwaves across a turbulent plasma density layer is investigated with full-wave simulations. To properly represent a fusion edge-plasma, drift-wave turbulence is considered based on the Hasegawa-Wakatani model. Scattering and broadening of a microwave beam whose amplitude distribution is of Gaussian shape is studied in detail as a function of certain turbulence properties. Parameters leading to the strongest deterioration of the microwave beam are identified and implications for existing experiments are given
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