562 research outputs found
NITROGEN CARRY-OVER IMPACTS IN IRRIGATED COTTON PRODUCTION, SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS OF TEXAS
A dynamic optimization model which introduces an intertemporal nitrate-nitrogen residual function is used to derive and evaluate nitrogen fertilizer optimal decision rules for irrigated cotton production in the Southern High Plains of Texas. Results indicate that optimal nitrogen applications critically depend on initial nitrate-nitrogen levels and nitrogen-to-cotton price ratios. Also, the results indicate that single-year optimization leads to suboptimal nitrogen applications, which helps explain long-term cotton yield declines in the Southern High Plains of Texas; but single-year optimization does not significantly impact the net present value of returns of irrigated cotton operations.Crop Production/Industries,
Supermassive Black Hole Mass Estimates Using Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Spectra at 0.7 < z < 2
We present MgII-based black hole mass estimates for 27,602 quasars with
rest-frame UV spectra available in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release
Three. This estimation is possible due to the existence of an empirical
correlation between the radius of the broad line region and the continuum
luminosity at 3000 Angstroms. We regenerate this correlation by applying our
measurement method to UV spectra of low-redshift quasars in the HST/IUE
databases which have corresponding reverberation mapping estimates of the Hbeta
broad line region's radius. Our mass estimation method uses the line dispersion
rather than the full width at half maximum of the low-ionization MgII emission
line. We measure MgII line dispersions for quasars whose spectra have been
reconstructed using the most significant eigenspectra produced through
Principal Component Analysis. We have tested the reliability of using
reconstructed spectra in black hole mass estimation using a Monte Carlo
simulation and by comparing the results from original and reconstructed Data
Release Three spectra. We show that using reconstructed spectra not only makes
bias-free mass estimation possible for quasars with low spectroscopic
signal-to-noise ratio, but also reduces the intrinsic scatter of the
distribution of the black hole masses to lower than 0.15 dex.Comment: 38 Pages, 12 figures, 3 Tables, 1 hyperlink to catalogue data.
Accepted for publication in ApJ
Black Hole Masses in Three Seyfert Galaxies
We analyze published reverberation mapping data for three Seyfert galaxies
(NGC 3227, NGC 3516, and NGC 4593) to refine the mass estimate for the
supermassive black hole in the center of each object. Treatment of the data in
a manner more consistent with other large compilations of such masses allows us
to more securely compare our results to wider samples of data, e.g., in the
investigation of the M_bh-sigma relationship for active and quiescent galaxies.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Reverberation Mapping Results from MDM Observatory
We present results from a multi-month reverberation mapping campaign
undertaken primarily at MDM Observatory with supporting observations from
around the world. We measure broad line region (BLR) radii and black hole
masses for six objects. A velocity-resolved analysis of the H_beta response
shows the presence of diverse kinematic signatures in the BLR.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the IAU Symposium No. 267:
Co-Evolution of Central Black Holes and Galaxies, Rio de Janeiro, 200
Black hole mass estimation from X-ray variability measurements in AGN
We propose a new method of estimation of the black hole masses in AGN based
on the normalized excess variance, sigma_{nxs}^2. We derive a relation between
sigma_{nxs}^2, the length of the observation, T, the light curve bin size,
Delta t, and the black hole mass, assuming that (i) the power spectrum above
the high frequency break, f_{bf}, has a slope of -2, (ii) the high frequency
break scales with black hole mass, (iii) the power spectrum amplitude (in
'frequency x power' space) is universal and (iv) sigma_{nxs}^2 is calculated
from observations of length T < 1/f_{bf}. Values of black hole masses in AGN
obtained with this method are consistent with estimates based on other
techniques such as reverberation mapping or the Mbh-stellar velocity dispersion
relation. The method is formally equivalent to methods based on power spectrum
scaling with mass but the use of the normalized excess variance has the big
advantage of being applicable to relatively low quality data.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter.
Added minor change on page 5 - corrected mistake (1/T 1/T > nu
Hydrography and circulation west of Sardinia in June 2014
In the frame of the REP14-MED sea trial in June 2014, the hydrography and circulation west of Sardinia, observed by means of gliders, shipborne CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) instruments, towed devices, and vessel-mounted ADCPs (acoustic doppler current profilers), are presented and compared with previous knowledge. So far, the circulation is not well-known in this area, and the hydrography is subject to long-term changes. Potential temperature, salinity, and potential density ranges as well as core values of the observed water masses were determined. Modified Atlantic Water (MAW), with potential density anomalies below 28.72 kg m−3, showed a salinity minimum of 37.93 at 50 dbar. Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW), with a salinity maximum of about 38.70 at 400 dbar, was observed within a range of 28.72<σΘ/(kg m−3) < 29.10. MAW and LIW showed slightly higher salinities than previous investigations. During the trial, LIW covered the whole area from the Sardinian shelf to 7°15′ E. Only north of 40° N was it tied to the continental slope. Within the MAW, a cold and saline anticyclonic eddy was observed in the southern trial area. The strongest variability in temperature and salinity appeared around this eddy, and in the southwestern part of the domain, where unusually low saline surface water entered the area towards the end of the experiment. An anticyclonic eddy of Winter Intermediate Water was recorded moving northward at 0.014 m s−1. Geostrophic currents and water mass transports calculated across zonal and meridional transects showed a good agreement with vessel-mounted ADCP measurements. Within the MAW, northward currents were observed over the shelf and offshore, while a southward transport of about 1.5 Sv occurred over the slope. A net northward transport of 0.38 Sv across the southern transect decreased to zero in the north. Within the LIW, northward transports of 0.6 Sv across the southern transects were mainly observed offshore, and decreased to 0.3 Sv in the north where they were primarily located over the slope. This presentation of the REP14-MED observations helps to further understand the long-term evolution of hydrography and circulation in the Western Mediterranean, where considerable changes occurred after the Eastern Mediterranean Transient and the Western Mediterranean Transition
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