Characteristics of light charged particle emission in the ternary fission of 250Cf and 252Cf at different excitation energies

The emission probabilities and the energy distributions of tritons, α and ^6He particles emitted in the spontaneous ternary fission (zero excitation energy) of ^250Cf and ^252Cf and in the cold neutron induced fission (excitation energy ≈ 6.5 MeV) of ^249Cf and 251Cf are determined. The particle identification was done with suited ΔE-E telescope detectors, at the IRMM (Geel, Belgium) for the spontaneous fission and at the ILL (Grenoble, France) for the neutron induced fission measurements. Hence particle emission characteristics of the fissioning systems ^250Cf and ^252Cf are obtained at zero and at about 6.5 MeV excitation energies. While the triton emission probability is hardly influenced by the excitation energy, the ^4He and ^6He emission probability in spontaneous fission is higher than for neutron induced fission. This can be explained by the strong influence of the cluster preformation probability on the ternary particle emission probability

Atmospheric correction of visible to middle-infrared EOS-MODIS data over land surfaces: Background, operational algorithm and validation

The NASA moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument will provide a global and improved source of information for the study of land surfaces with a spatial resolution of up to 250 m

Harmonized Landsat/Sentinel-2 Reflectance Products for Land Monitoring (Invited)

Many land applications require more frequent observations than can be obtained from a single 'Landsat class' sensor. Agricultural monitoring, inland water quality assessment, stand-scale phenology, and numerous other applications all require near-daily imagery at better than 1ha resolution. Thus the land science community has begun expressing a desire for a '30-meter MODIS' global monitoring capability. One cost-effective way to achieve this goal is via merging data from multiple, international observatories into a single virtual constellation. The Harmonized Landsat/Sentinel-2 (HLS) project has been working to generate a seamless surface reflectance product by combining observations from USGS/NASA Landsat-8 and ESA Sentinel-2. Harmonization in this context requires a series of radiometric and geometric transforms to create a single surface reflectance time series agnostic to sensor origin. Radiometric corrections include a common atmospheric correction using the Landsat-8 LaSRC/6S approach, a simple BRDF adjustment to constant solar and nadir view angle, and spectral bandpass adjustments to fit the Landsat-8 OLI reference. Data are then resampled to a consistent 30m UTM grid, using the Sentinel-2 global tile system. Cloud and shadow masking are also implemented. Quality assurance (QA) involves comparison of the output 30m HLS products with near-simultaneous MODIS nadir-adjusted observations. Prototoype HLS products have been processed for approximately 7% of the global land area using the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) compute environment at NASA Ames, and can be downloaded from the HLS web site (https://hls.gsfc.nasa.gov). A wall-to-wall North America data set is being prepared for 2018. This talk will review the objectives and status of the HLS project, and illustrate applications of high-density optical time series data for agriculture and ecology. We also discuss lessons learned from HLS in the general context of implementing virtual constellations

Generating Global Leaf Area Index from Landsat: Algorithm Formulation and Demonstration

This paper summarizes the implementation of a physically based algorithm for the retrieval of vegetation green Leaf Area Index (LAI) from Landsat surface reflectance data. The algorithm is based on the canopy spectral invariants theory and provides a computationally efficient way of parameterizing the Bidirectional Reflectance Factor (BRF) as a function of spatial resolution and wavelength. LAI retrievals from the application of this algorithm to aggregated Landsat surface reflectances are consistent with those of MODIS for homogeneous sites represented by different herbaceous and forest cover types. Example results illustrating the physics and performance of the algorithm suggest three key factors that influence the LAI retrieval process: 1) the atmospheric correction procedures to estimate surface reflectances; 2) the proximity of Landsatobserved surface reflectance and corresponding reflectances as characterized by the model simulation; and 3) the quality of the input land cover type in accurately delineating pure vegetated components as opposed to mixed pixels. Accounting for these factors, a pilot implementation of the LAI retrieval algorithm was demonstrated for the state of California utilizing the Global Land Survey (GLS) 2005 Landsat data archive. In a separate exercise, the performance of the LAI algorithm over California was evaluated by using the short-wave infrared band in addition to the red and near-infrared bands. Results show that the algorithm, while ingesting the short-wave infrared band, has the ability to delineate open canopies with understory effects and may provide useful information compared to a more traditional two-band retrieval. Future research will involve implementation of this algorithm at continental scales and a validation exercise will be performed in evaluating the accuracy of the 30-m LAI products at several field sites

Quantifying unpredictability: A multiple-model approach based on satellite imagery data from Mediterranean ponds.

Fluctuations in environmental parameters are increasingly being recognized as essential features of any habitat. The quantification of whether environmental fluctuations are prevalently predictable or unpredictable is remarkably relevant to understanding the evolutionary responses of organisms. However, when characterizing the relevant features of natural habitats, ecologists typically face two problems: (1) gathering long-term data and (2) handling the hard-won data. This paper takes advantage of the free access to long-term recordings of remote sensing data (27 years, Landsat TM/ETM+) to assess a set of environmental models for estimating environmental predictability. The case study included 20 Mediterranean saline ponds and lakes, and the focal variable was the water-surface area. This study first aimed to produce a method for accurately estimating the water-surface area from satellite images. Saline ponds can develop salt-crusted areas that make it difficult to distinguish between soil and water. This challenge was addressed using a novel pipeline that combines band ratio water indices and the short near-infrared band as a salt filter. The study then extracted the predictable and unpredictable components of variation in the water-surface area. Two different approaches, each showing variations in the parameters, were used to obtain the stochastic variation around a regular pattern with the objective of dissecting the effect of assumptions on predictability estimations. The first approach, which is based on Colwell's predictability metrics, transforms the focal variable into a nominal one. The resulting discrete categories define the relevant variations in the water-surface area. In the second approach, we introduced General Additive Model (GAM) fitting as a new metric for quantifying predictability. Both approaches produced a wide range of predictability for the studied ponds. Some model assumptions-which are considered very different a priori-had minor effects, whereas others produced predictability estimations that showed some degree of divergence. We hypothesize that these diverging estimations of predictability reflect the effect of fluctuations on different types of organisms. The fluctuation analysis described in this manuscript is applicable to a wide variety of systems, including both aquatic and nonaquatic systems, and will be valuable for quantifying and characterizing predictability, which is essential within the expected global increase in the unpredictability of environmental fluctuations. We advocate that a priori information for organisms of interest should be used to select the most suitable metrics estimating predictability, and we provide some guidelines for this approach

Detailed α-decay study of 180Tl

International audienceA detailed $\alpha$-decay spectroscopy study of $^{180}\mathrm{Tl}$ has been performed at ISOLDE (CERN). $Z$-selective ionization by the Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source (RILIS) coupled to mass separation provided a high-purity beam of $^{180}\mathrm{Tl}$. Fine-structure $\alpha$ decays to excited levels in the daughter $^{176}\mathrm{Au}$ were identified and an $\alpha$-decay scheme of $^{180}\mathrm{Tl}$ was constructed based on an analysis of $\alpha$-$\gamma$ and $\alpha$-$\gamma$-$\gamma$ coincidences. Multipolarities of several $\gamma$-ray transitions deexciting levels in $^{176}\mathrm{Au}$ were determined. Based on the analysis of reduced $\alpha$-decay widths, it was found that all $\alpha$ decays are hindered, which signifies a change of configuration between the parent and all daughter states

Global retrieval of bidirectional reflectance and albedo over land from EOS MODIS and MISR data: Theory and algorithm

This paper describes the theory and the algorithm to be used in producing a global bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) and albedo product from data to be acquired by the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the multiangle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR), both to be launched in 1998 on the AM-I satellite platform as part of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS). The product will be derived using the kernel-driven semiempirical Ambrals BRDF model, utilizing five variants of kernel functions characterizing isotropic, volume and surface scattering. The BRDF and the albedo of each pixel of the land surface will be modeled at a spatial resolution of I km and once every 16 days in seven spectral bands spanning the visible and the near infrared. The BRDF parameters retrieved and recorded in the MODIS BRDF/albedo product will be intrinsic surface properties decoupled from the prevailing atmospheric state and hence suited for a wide range of applications requiring characterization of the directional anisotropy of Earth surface reflectance. A set of quality control flags accompanies the product. An initial validation of the Ambrals model is demonstrated using a variety of field-measured data sets for several different land cover types