10,362 research outputs found
Persistence of Antarctic polar stratospheric clouds
The persistence of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs) observed by the Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement (SAM) 2 satellite sensor over a 9-year period is compared and contrasted. Histograms of the SAM 2 1.0 micron extinction ratio data (aerosol extinction normalized by the molecular extinction) at an altitude of 18 km in the Antarctic have been generated for three 10-day periods in the month of September. Statistics for eight different years (1979 to 1982 and 1984 to 1987) are shown in separate panels for each figure. Since the SAM 2 system is a solar occultation experiment, observations are limited to the edge of the polar night and no measurements are made deep within the vortex where temperatures could be colder. For this reason, use is made of the NMC global gridded fields and the known temperature-extinction relationship to infer additional information on the occurrence and areal coverage of PSCs. Calculations of the daily areal coverage of the 195 K isotherm will be presented for this same period of data. This contour level lies in the range of the predicted temperature for onset of the Type 1 particle enhancement mode at 50 mb (Poole and McCormick, 1988b) and should indicate approximately when formation of the binary HNO3-H2O particles begins
Airborne aerosol lidar
The objectives are: to analyze dual polarization lidar measurements of aerosols and polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) obtained aboard the NASA Ames DC-8 aircraft during the 1989 Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition (AASE); and to combine lidar, SAM II, and other AASE data with theoretical modeling calculations to study PSC characteristics. A summary of progress and results is given
Weak-wave advancement in nearly collinear four-wave mixing
We identify a new four-wave mixing process in which two nearly collinear pump
beams produce phase-dependent gain into a weak bisector signal beam in a
self-defocusing Kerr medium. Phase matching is achieved by weak-wave
advancement caused by cross-phase modulation between the pump and signal beams.
We relate this process to the inverse of spatial modulational instability and
suggest a time-domain analog.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Photonic crystal polarizers and polarizing beam splitters
We have experimentally demonstrated polarizers and polarizing beam splitters
based on microwave-scale two-dimensional photonic crystals. Using polarized
microwaves within certain frequency bands, we have observed a squared-sinusoid
(Malus) transmission law when using the photonic crystal as a polarizer. The
photonic crystal also functions as a polarizing beamsplitter; in this
configuration it can be engineered to split incident polarizations in either
order, making it more versatile than conventional, Brewster-angle
beamsplitters.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, published Journal Applied Physics 93, 9429 (2003
Relative intensity squeezing by four-wave mixing with loss: an analytic model and experimental diagnostic
Four-wave mixing near resonance in an atomic vapor can produce relative
intensity squeezed light suitable for precision measurements beyond the
shot-noise limit. We develop an analytic distributed gain/loss model to
describe the competition of mixing and absorption through the non-linear
medium. Using a novel matrix calculus, we present closed-form expressions for
the degree of relative intensity squeezing produced by this system. We use
these theoretical results to analyze experimentally measured squeezing from a
Rb vapor and demonstrate the analytic model's utility as an experimental
diagnostic.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Microwave measurements of the photonic bandgap in a two-dimensional photonic crystal slab
We have measured the photonic bandgap in the transmission of microwaves
through a two-dimensional photonic crystal slab. The structure was constructed
by cementing acrylic rods in a hexagonal closed-packed array to form
rectangular stacks. We find a bandgap centered at approximately 11 GHz, whose
depth, width and center frequency vary with the number of layers in the slab,
angle of incidence and microwave polarization.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Journal of Applied Physic
The development of a solar powered residential heating and cooling system
A solar energy collector design is disclosed that would be efficient for both energy transfer and fluid flow, based upon extensive parametric analyses. Thermal design requirements are generated for the energy storage systems which utilizes sensible heat storage in water. Properly size system components (including the collector and storage) and a practical, efficient total system configuration are determined by means of computer simulation of system performance
Comparison of in situ aerosol measurements with SAGE 2 and SAM 2 aerosol measurements during the airborne Antarctic ozone experiment
Models indicate that stratospheric aerosols play a major role in the destruction of ozone during the Austral winter. Although many in situ measurements of stratospheric aerosols were made during the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment, changes of aerosol concentration and size distributions across the polar vortex are important to understanding changes of chemical species taking place during this time. Therefore comparing the in situ measurements with measurements made by satellites scanning wider areas will give a clearer picture of the possible role played by aerosols during this period. The wire impactor size distributions are compared to those from the aerosol spectrometers and a best fit size distribution determined. Aerosol extinctions are calculated from the in situ measurements and compared to the extinctions measured by the satellites. Five comparisons are made with SAGE 2 and four with SAM 2. Extinctions agree as close as a factor of two
SAGE 3: A visible wavelength limb sounder
A brief description is presented for the SAGE 3 (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment 3) instrument that has been selected to fly onboard the National Polar Platform 1 (NPOP 1) for the Earth Observational System (Eos) in 1996. The SAGE 3 instrument will perform earth limb sounding with the solar occultation technique measuring the ultraviolet (UV), the visible, and the near infrared (IR) wavelength solar radiation. The instrument will produce atmospheric data for the vertical distribution of aerosol, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, water vapor, and oxygen. The details of the instrument design, data flow, and processing requirements are discussed
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