The use of airborne imaging spectrometer data to determine experimentally induced variation in coniferous canopy chemistry

It was experimentally determined whether induced differences in forest canopy chemical composition can be detected using data from the Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (AIS). Treatments were applied to an even-aged forest of Douglas fir trees. Work to date has stressed wet chemical analysis of foilage samples and correction of AIS data. Plot treatments were successful in providing a range of foliar N2 concentrations. Much time was spent investigating and correcting problems with the raw AIS data. Initial problems with groups of drop out lines in the AIS data were traced to the tape recorder and the tape drive. Custom adjustment of the tape drive led to recovery of most missing lines. Remaining individual drop out lines were replaced using average of adjacent lines. Application of a notch filter to the Fourier transform of the image in each band satisfactorily removed vertical striping. The aspect ratio was corrected by resampling the image in the line direction using nearest neighbor interpolation

Detecting Unresolved Binaries in TESS Data with Speckle Imaging

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is conducting a two-year wide-field survey searching for transiting exoplanets around nearby bright stars that will be ideal for follow-up characterization. To facilitate studies of planet compositions and atmospheric properties, accurate and precise planetary radii need to be derived from the transit light curves. Since 40 - 50% of exoplanet host stars are in multiple star systems, however, the observed transit depth may be diluted by the flux of a companion star, causing the radius of the planet to be underestimated. High angular resolution imaging can detect companion stars that are not resolved in the TESS Input Catalog, or by seeing-limited photometry, to validate exoplanet candidates and derive accurate planetary radii. We examine the population of stellar companions that will be detectable around TESS planet candidate host stars, and those that will remain undetected, by applying the detection limits of speckle imaging to the simulated host star populations of Sullivan et al. (2015) and Barclay et al. (2018). By detecting companions with contrasts of delta m < 7 - 9 and separations of ~0.02 - 1.2'', speckle imaging can detect companion stars as faint as early M stars around A - F stars and stars as faint as mid-M around G - M stars, as well as up to 99% of the expected binary star distribution for systems located within a few hundred parsecs.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal; 16 pages, 8 figures, 2 table

High Resolution Spectrometry of Leaf and Canopy Chemistry for Biochemical Cycling

High-resolution laboratory spectrophotometer and Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (AIS) data were used to analyze forest leaf and canopy chemistry. Fundamental stretching frequencies of organic bonds in the visible, near infrared and short-wave infrared are indicative of concentrations and total content of nitrogen, phosphorous, starch and sugar. Laboratory spectrophotometer measurements showed very strong negative correlations with nitrogen (measured using wet chemistry) in the visible wavelengths. Strong correlations with green wet canopy weight in the atmospheric water absorption windows were observed in the AIS data. A fairly strong negative correlation between the AIS data at 1500 nm and total nitrogen and nitrogen concentration was evident. This relationship corresponds very closely to protein absorption features near 1500 nm

Bau Petroglyphs

Volume: XXI

Implementing the Studer Initiatives to Sustain Change: An Interpretive Case Study

This research focused on a very specific intervention strategy when working with change, the Studer Initiatives. The research had an interpretive design that focused on an internal perspective of the changes that occurred while implementing these initiatives. Three major categories evolved from this study of the experiences of 16 administrators, leaders, and staff at a healthcare organization that implemented the Studer Initiatives. The three categories were: Foundations of the system/change, primary factors to the selection of Studer, and the process of change to Studer. While this may not be applicable to other health care facilities, this study provides the experience of transformational change of one facility in a rural Minnesota environment

Fundamental Parameters of Eclipsing Binaries in the Kepler Field of View

Accurate knowledge of stellar parameters such as mass, radius, effective temperature, and composition inform our understanding of stellar evolution and constrain theoretical models. Binaries and, in particular, eclipsing binaries make it possible to measure directly these parameters without reliance on models or scaling relations. In this dissertation we derive fundamental parameters of stars in close binary systems with and without (detected) tertiary companions to test and inform theories of stellar and binary evolution. A subsample of 41 detached and semi-detached short-period eclipsing binaries observed by NASA’s Kepler mission and analyzed for eclipse timing variations form the basis of our sample. Radial velocities and spectroscopic orbits for these systems are derived from moderate resolution optical spectra and used to determine individual masses for 34 double-lined spectroscopic binaries, five of which have detected tertiaries. The resulting mass ratio M2/M1 distribution is bimodal, dominated by binaries with like-mass pairs and semi-detached classical Algol systems that have undergone mass transfer. A more detailed analysis of KIC 5738698, a detached binary consisting of two F-type main sequence stars with an orbital period of 4.8 days, uses the derived radial velocities to reconstruct the primary and secondary component spectra via Doppler tomography and derive atmospheric parameters for both stars. These parameters are then combined with Kepler photometry to obtain accurate masses and radii through light curve and radial velocity fitting with the binary modeling software ELC. A similar analysis is performed for KOI-81, a rapidly-rotating B-type star orbited by a low-mass white dwarf, using UV spectroscopy to identify the hot companion and determine masses and temperatures of both components. Well defined stellar parameters for KOI-81 and the other close binary systems examined in this dissertation enable detailed analyses of the physical attributes of systems in different evolutionary stages, providing important constraints for the formation and evolution of close binary systems