688 research outputs found

    The distribution of atomic hydrogen in the Jovian atmosphere

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    An analysis is presented of the Voyager and IUE lyman alpha spectra of the Jovian equatorial emission in which was derived a zonal asymmetry in the hydrogen column abundance. Using two estimates of the fraction of Lyman alpha which is due to direct excitation by charged particle precipitation from the ionosphere, upper and lower limits were derived to the H column abundance within and without the perturbed region. That the asymmetry in H abundance may be due to localized heating near the homopause with a consequent rise in scale height is shown. The derived exospheric temperature remains fairly constant with longitude. The required additional heat input over the bulge region, 0.02 erg/cm/s, is supplied by an additional flux of magnetospheric electrons due to Jupiter's magnetic anomaly

    Eyes Wide Shut: Expanding the view of portfolio management

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    This conceptual paper examines our existing world-view portfolio is defined the management of that portfolios from that of project and new product development portfolios to other portfolios that exist in an organisation, such as the asset portfolio, resource portfolio and ideas portfolio. Portfolios do not exist in isolation in an organisational context, but instead overlap and interact. This paper argues that there is a need to move another step higher, and examine the relationships between portfolios of projects and related activities across an organisation in order to optimise outcomes across the organisation. We propose the need for `enterprise portfolio management and suggest that this approach has the potential to improve organisational efficiency, and in the longer term could be a source of competitive advantage

    Monte Carlo Model Insights into the Lunar Sodium Exosphere

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    Sodium in the lunar exosphere is released from the lunar regolith by several mechanisms. These mechanisms include photon stimulated desorption (PSD), impact vaporization, electron stimulated desorption, and ion sputtering. Usually, PSD dominates; however, transient events can temporarily enhance other release mechanisms so that they are dominant. Examples of transient events include meteor showers and coronal mass ejections. The interaction between sodium and the regolith is important in determining the density and spatial distribution of sodium in the lunar exosphere. The temperature at which sodium sticks to the surface is one factor. In addition, the amount of thermal accommodation during the encounter between the sodium atom and the surface affects the exospheric distribution. Finally, the fraction of particles that are stuck when the surface is cold that are rereleased when the surface warms up also affects the exospheric density. In [1], we showed the "ambient" sodium exosphere from Monte Carlo modeling with a fixed source rate and fixed surface interaction parameters. We compared the enhancement when a CME passes the Moon to the ambient conditions. Here, we compare model results to data in order to determine the source rates and surface interaction parameters that provide the best fit of the model to the data

    The Effect on the Lunar Exosphere of a Coroual Mass Ejection Passage

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    Solar wind bombardment onto exposed surfaces in the solar system produces an energetic component to the exospheres about those bodies. The solar wind energy and composition are highly dependent on the origin of the plasma. Using the measured composition of the slow wind, fast wind, solar energetic particle (SEP) population, and coronal mass ejection (CME), broken down into their various components, we have estimated the total sputter yield for each type of solar wind. We show that the heavy ion component, especially the He++ and 0+7 can greatly enhance the total sputter yield during times when the heavy ion population is enhanced. Folding in the flux, we compute the source rate for several species during different types of solar wind. Finally, we use a Monte Carlo model developed to simulate the time-dependent evolution of the lunar exosphere to study the sputtering component of the exosphere under the influence of a CME passage. We simulate the background exosphere of Na, K, Ca, and Mg. Simulations indicate that sputtering increases the mass of those constituents in the exosphere a few to a few tens times the background values. The escalation of atmospheric density occurs within an hour of onset The decrease in atmospheric density after the CME passage is also rapid, although takes longer than the increase, Sputtered neutral particles have a high probability of escaping the moon,by both Jeans escape and photo ionization. Density and spatial distribution of the exosphere can be tested with the LADEE mission

    A Concept for Small, Remotely Operated, Coronagraph located at Small Observatory to Obtain Frequent Low-cost Remote Observations of the Lunar Exosphere and the Mercurian Tail

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    The sodium in the lunar exosphere is a marker species for studying the lunar exosphere because the element possesses two strong resonance transitions from the ground state whose wavelengths fall in the visible spectrum near 590 nm. Emissions at these wavelengths are thus, observable from Earth. Observations have shown that the exosphere responds in a complex way to the external processes (impact vaporization, sputtering, and photon stimulated desorption) that weather the lunar regolith to produce the sodium. Unraveling the sodium production allows us to study the processes that weather the regolith. Obtaining the extensive time sequence of observations required to unravel the sources of sodium using conventional observatories is impractical, and too expensive. Effectively imaging the lunar sodium exosphere dose to the Moon requires an off-axis rejection of scattered light that can only be obtained with a coronagraph. A related problem. the observation of the sodium tail of Mercury, can be addressed as well only by coronagraphic observations. We present here a concept for a small, rugged coronagraph sited at an observatory dedicated to remote robotic observing (the Winer Observatory in Sonoita Arizona) that can obtain the quality and quantity of lunar sodium observations needed to answer these questions. The design uses Commercial Off the Shelf Technology (COTS). If this facility is operational by 2013. the observations will be concurrent with the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission

    Redistribution of Lunar Polar Water to Mid-latitudes and its Role in Forming an OH veneer - Revisited

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    We suggest that energization processes like ion sputtering and impact vaporization can eject/release polar water molecules residing within lunar cold trapped regions with sufficient velocity to allow their redistribution to mid-latitudes. We consider the possibility that these polar-ejected molecules can be an additional (but not dominant) contribution to the water/OH veneer observed as a 3 micron absorption feature at mid-latitudes by Chandrayaan-I, Cassini, and EPOXI. Taking the conservative case that polar water is ejected only from the floor of polar craters with an 0.1 % icy regolith then overall source rates are near 10(exp 18) H20s/s. This outflow amounts to approx 10(exp -7) kg/s of water to be ejected from each pole and is a water source rate that is 10(exp .5 lower than the overall exospheric source rate for all species. Hence, the out-flowing polar water is a perturbation in the overall exosphere composition & dynamics. This polar water 'fountain' model may not fully account for the relatively high concentrations in the mid-latitude water veneer observed in the IR (approx 10-1000 ppm). However, it may account for some part of the veneer. We note that the polar water fountain source rates scale linearly with ice concentration, and larger mass fractions of polar crater water should provide correspondingly larger fractions of water emission out of the poles which then 'spills' on to mid-latitude surfaces

    Solar Wind Implantation Into the Lunar Regolith: Monte Carlo Simulations of H Retention in a Surface With Defects and the H2 Exosphere

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    The solar wind implants protons into the top 2030 nm of lunar regolith grains, and the implanted hydrogen will diffuse out of the regolith but also interact with oxygen in the regolith oxides. We apply a statistical approach to estimate the diffusion of hydrogen in the regolith hindered by forming temporary bonds with regolith oxygen atoms. A Monte Carlo simulation was used to track the temporal evolution of bound OH surface content and the H2 exosphere. The model results are consistent with the interpretation of the Chandrayaan1 M3 observations of infrared absorption spectra by surface hydroxyls as discussed in Li and Milliken (2017, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1701471). The model reproduced the latitudinal concentration of OH by using a Gaussian energy distribution of f(U(sub 0) = 0.5 eV, U(sub W) = 0.0780.1 eV) to characterize the activation energy barrier to the diffusion of hydrogen in space weathered regolith. In addition, the model results of the exospheric content of H2 are consistent with observations by the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Therefore, we provide support for hydroxyl formation by chemically trapped solar wind protons

    What Will LADEE Tell Us About the Lunar Atmosphere?

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    The only species that have been confirmed in the lunar exosphere are Na, K, Ar, and He. However, models for the production and loss of lunar regolith-derived exospheric species from source processes including micrometeoroid impact vaporization, sputtering, and, for Na and K, photon-stimulated desorption, predict a host of other species should exist in the lunar exosphere. Assuming that loss processes are limited to ballistic escape, photoionization, and recycling to the surface, we have computed column abundances and compared them to published upper limits from the Moon and to detected abundances from Mercury. Our results suggest that available measurements often do not constrain models, and underline the need for improved spectroscopic measurements of the lunar exosphere. Such investigations are planned by the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft. Our calculations indicate that LADEE measurements promise to make definitive observations or set stringent upper limits for all regolith-driven exospheric species because of their favorable signal to noise ratio. Our models, along with LADEE observations, will constrain assumed model parameters for the Moon, such as sticking coefficients, source processes, and velocity distributions

    Solar Wind Implantation into Lunar Regolith II: Monte Carlo Simulations of Hydrogen Retention in a Surface with Defects and the Hydrogen (H, H2) Exosphere

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    Recently, the near-infrared observations of the OH veneer on the lunar surface by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) have been refined to constrain the OH content to 500-750 parts per million (ppm). The observations indicate diurnal variations in OH up to 200 ppm possibly linked to warmer surface temperatures at low latitude. We examine the M3 observations using a statistical mechanics approach to model the diffusion of implanted H in the lunar regolith. We present results from Monte Carlo simulations of the diffusion of implanted solar wind H atoms and the subsequently derived H and H2 exospheres
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