TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on the James Webb Space Telescope: I. Overview of the instrument and its capabilities

We provide an overview of the design and capabilities of the near-infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec) onboard the James Webb Space Telescope. NIRSpec is designed to be capable of carrying out low-resolution ($R\!=30\!-330$) prism spectroscopy over the wavelength range $0.6-5.3\!~\mu$m and higher resolution ($R\!=500\!-1340$ or $R\!=1320\!-3600$) grating spectroscopy over $0.7-5.2\!~\mu$m, both in single-object mode employing any one of five fixed slits, or a 3.1$\times$3.2 arcsec$^2$ integral field unit, or in multiobject mode employing a novel programmable micro-shutter device covering a 3.6$\times$3.4~arcmin$^2$ field of view. The all-reflective optical chain of NIRSpec and the performance of its different components are described, and some of the trade-offs made in designing the instrument are touched upon. The faint-end spectrophotometric sensitivity expected of NIRSpec, as well as its dependency on the energetic particle environment that its two detector arrays are likely to be subjected to in orbit are also discussed

The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on the James Webb Space Telescope: I. Overview of the instrument and its capabilities

We provide an overview of the design and capabilities of the near-infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec) onboard the James Webb Space Telescope. NIRSpec is designed to be capable of carrying out low-resolution ($R\!=30\!-330$) prism spectroscopy over the wavelength range $0.6-5.3\!~\mu$m and higher resolution ($R\!=500\!-1340$ or $R\!=1320\!-3600$) grating spectroscopy over $0.7-5.2\!~\mu$m, both in single-object mode employing any one of five fixed slits, or a 3.1$\times$3.2 arcsec$^2$ integral field unit, or in multiobject mode employing a novel programmable micro-shutter device covering a 3.6$\times$3.4~arcmin$^2$ field of view. The all-reflective optical chain of NIRSpec and the performance of its different components are described, and some of the trade-offs made in designing the instrument are touched upon. The faint-end spectrophotometric sensitivity expected of NIRSpec, as well as its dependency on the energetic particle environment that its two detector arrays are likely to be subjected to in orbit are also discussed

South Atlantic heat transport at 11°S

Hydrographic data along 11°S occupied in 1983 by the R.V. OCEANUS are used together with various wind climatologies to estimate the annual average transport of heat at this latitude. Some motivation for expecting fairly well-defined estimates at this latitude compared to others comes from the absence of a strong western boundary current. Results include flow in four layers representing the thermocline, Antarctic Intermediate Water, North Atlantic Deep Water, and Antarctic Bottom Water, using zero velocity reference level choices based on property distributions. The annual average heat transport is estimated to be 0.6 ± 0.17 x 1015 W. Previous estimates of the transport at 8–16°S range from 0.2 PW to greater than 1 PW. Interannual variability from the wind field alone leads to interannual heat transport variability of about 0.05 PW. Comparisons with other recent studies at 45–30°S and 11°N are made