Optical Imaging and Radiometric Modeling and Simulation

OPTOOL software is a general-purpose optical systems analysis tool that was developed to offer a solution to problems associated with computational programs written for the James Webb Space Telescope optical system. It integrates existing routines into coherent processes, and provides a structure with reusable capabilities that allow additional processes to be quickly developed and integrated. It has an extensive graphical user interface, which makes the tool more intuitive and friendly. OPTOOL is implemented using MATLAB with a Fourier optics-based approach for point spread function (PSF) calculations. It features parametric and Monte Carlo simulation capabilities, and uses a direct integration calculation to permit high spatial sampling of the PSF. Exit pupil optical path difference (OPD) maps can be generated using combinations of Zernike polynomials or shaped power spectral densities. The graphical user interface allows rapid creation of arbitrary pupil geometries, and entry of all other modeling parameters to support basic imaging and radiometric analyses. OPTOOL provides the capability to generate wavefront-error (WFE) maps for arbitrary grid sizes. These maps are 2D arrays containing digital sampled versions of functions ranging from Zernike polynomials to combination of sinusoidal wave functions in 2D, to functions generated from a spatial frequency power spectral distribution (PSD). It also can generate optical transfer functions (OTFs), which are incorporated into the PSF calculation. The user can specify radiometrics for the target and sky background, and key performance parameters for the instrument s focal plane array (FPA). This radiometric and detector model setup is fairly extensive, and includes parameters such as zodiacal background, thermal emission noise, read noise, and dark current. The setup also includes target spectral energy distribution as a function of wavelength for polychromatic sources, detector pixel size, and the FPA s charge diffusion modulation transfer function (MTF)

A lysimeter study on the effect of temperature on CO2 emission from cultivated peat soils

A lysimeter method was evaluated for its suitability in gas emission studies by studying the effect of temperature on CO2 emissions (dark respiration) from cultivated peat soils. The study was carried out with organic soils from two locations in Sweden, a typical cultivated fen peat with low pH and high organic matter content (Örke) and a more uncommon fen peat with high pH and low organic matter content (Majnegården). A drilling method with minimal soil disturbance was used to collect 12 undisturbed soil lysimeters per site. CO2 emission was measured weekly from the vegetated lysimeters and the results were compared with data from incubation experiments. The CO2 emissions measured in the lysimeter experiment were in the same range as those in other studies and showed a similar increase with temperature as in the incubation experiment. With climatic and drainage conditions being similar in the lysimeter experiment, differences in daytime CO2 emission rates between soils (483 mg ± 6.9 CO2 m-2 h-1 from the Örke soil and 360 ± 7.5 mg CO2 m-2 h-1 from the Majnegården soil) were presumably due to soil quality differences. Q10 values of 2.1 and 3.0 were determined in the lysimeter experiment and of 1.9 to 4.5 in the incubation experiment for Örke and Majnegården respectively. CO2 emission data fitted well to a semi-empirical equation relating CO2 emissions to air temperature. The lysimeter method proved to be well suited for CO2 emission studies