Generating Accurate and Consistent Top-Of-Atmosphere Reflectance Products from the New Generation Geostationary Satellite Sensors

GeoNEX is a collaborative project by scientists from NASA, NOAA, JAXA, and other organizations around the world with the purpose of generating a suite of Earth-monitoring products using data streams from the latest geostationary (GEO) sensors including the GOES-16/17 ABI and the Himawari-8/9 AHI. An accurate and consistent top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance product, in particular the bidirectional reflectance factor (BRF), is the starting point in the scientific processing chain. We describe the main considerations and corresponding algorithms in generating the GeoNEX TOA BRF product. First, a special advantage of geostationary data streams is their high temporal resolution (~10 minutes per full-disk scan), providing a key source of information for many downstream products. To fully utilize this high temporal frequency demands a high georegistration accuracy for every acquired image. Our analysis shows that there can be substantial georegistration uncertainties in both GOES and Himawari L1b data which we addressed by implementing a phase-based correction algorithm to remove residual errors. Second, geostationary sensors have distinct illumination-view geometry features in that the solar angle changes for every pixel. Therefore, to accurately derive a BRF requires a solar position algorithm and the estimation of the pixel-wise acquisition time within an uncertainty of 10 seconds. Third, we discuss the measures we adopted to check and correct residual radiometric calibration issues of individual sensors to enable time-series analysis as well as the cross calibration between different satellite sensors (including those from low-Earth orbit). Finally, we also explain the rationale for the choice of the global grid/tile system of the GeoNEX TOA BRF product

Microwave properties of Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO_3: a key role of the (x^2-y^2)-orbital effects

Transmittance of the colossal magnetoresistive compound Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO_3 showing metal-insulator phase transition has been studied by means of the submm- and mm-wavelength band spectroscopy. An unusually high transparency of the material provided direct evidence for the significant suppression of the coherent Drude weight in the ferromagnetic metallic state. Melting of the A-type antiferromagnetic states has been found to be responsible for a considerable increase in the microwave transmission, which was observed at the transition from the insulating to the metallic phase induced by magnetic field or temperature. This investigation confirmed a dominant role of the (x^2-y^2)-orbital degree of freedom in the low-energy optical properties of Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO_3 and other doped manganites with planar (x^2-y^2)-orbital order, as predicted theoretically. The results are discussed in terms of the orbital-liquid concept.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Spin-charge gauge symmetry: A way to tackle HTS cuprates?

We propose an explanation of several experimental features of transport phenomena in the normal state of high Tc cuprates in terms of a spin-charge gauge theory of the 2D t-J model. The calculated doping-temperature dependence for a number of physical quantities is found in qualitative agreement with data. In particular, we recover: in the ``pseudogap phase'' the metal-insulator crossover of the in-plane resistivity and of the NMR ``relaxation time'' and the insulating behavior of the out-of-plane resistivity; in the ``strange metal phase'' (at higher temperature or doping) the linear in T behavior of the above quantities; the appearance of maxima in the in-plane far-infrared conductivity in strongly underdoped and overdoped samples.Comment: 8 pages, 14 figures; to appear without figures in Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solid

One-Center Charge Transfer Transitions in Manganites

In frames of a rather conventional cluster approach, which combines the crystal field and the ligand field models we have considered different charge transfer (CT) states and O 2p-Mn 3d CT transitions in MnO$_{6}^{9-}$ octahedra. The many-electron dipole transition matrix elements were calculated using the Racah algebra for the cubic point group. Simple "local" approximation allowed to calculate the relative intensity for all dipole-allowed $\pi -\pi$ and $\sigma -\sigma$ CT transitions. We present a self-consistent description of the CT bands in insulating stoichiometric LaMn$^{3+}$O$_3$ compound with the only Mn$^{3+}$ valent state and idealized octahedral MnO$_{6}^{9-}$ centers which allows to substantially correct the current interpretation of the optical spectra. Our analysis shows the multi-band structure of the CT optical response with the weak low-energy edge at 1.7 eV, associated with forbidden $t_{1g}(\pi)-e_{g}$ transition and a series of the weak and strong dipole-allowed high-energy transitions starting from 2.5 and 4.5 eV, respectively, and extending up to nearly 11 eV. The most intensive features are associated with two strong composite bands near $4.6\div 4.7$ eV and $8\div 9$ eV, respectively, resulting from the superposition of the dipole-allowed $\sigma -\sigma$ and $\pi -\pi$ CT transitions. These predictions are in good agreement with experimental spectra. The experimental data point to a strong overscreening of the crystal field parameter $Dq$ in the CT states of MnO$_{6}^{9-}$ centers.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Analysis of interdiffusion between SmFeAsO0.92F0.08 and metals for ex situ fabrication of superconducting wire

We demonstrate the fabrication of superconducting SmFeAsO1-xFx (Sm-1111) wires by using the ex-situ powder-in-tube technique. Sm-1111 powder and a binder composed of SmF3, samarium arsenide, and iron arsenide were used to synthesize the superconducting core. Although the F content of Sm-1111 is reduced in the process of ex-situ fabrication, the binder compensates by sufficiently supplementing the F content, thereby preventing a decrease in the superconducting transition temperature and a shrinking of the superconducting volume fraction. Thus, in the superconducting Sm-1111 wire with the binder, the transport critical current density reaches the highest value of ~4000 A/cm2 at 4.2 K

Optical properties of pyrochlore oxide Pb2Ru2O7−δPb_{2}Ru_{2}O_{7-{\delta}}

We present optical conductivity spectra for $Pb_{2}Ru_{2}O_{7-{\delta}}$ single crystal at different temperatures. Among reported pyrochlore ruthenates, this compound exhibits metallic behavior in a wide temperature range and has the least resistivity. At low frequencies, the optical spectra show typical Drude responses, but with a knee feature around 1000 \cm. Above 20000 \cm, a broad absorption feature is observed. Our analysis suggests that the low frequency responses can be understood from two Drude components arising from the partially filled Ru $t_{2g}$ bands with different plasma frequencies and scattering rates. The high frequency broad absorption may be contributed by two interband transitions: from occupied Ru $t_{2g}$ states to empty $e_{g}$ bands and from the fully filled O 2p bands to unoccupied Ru $t_{2g}$ states.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Transport Anomalies and the Role of Pseudogap in the "60-K Phase" of YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-\delta}

We report the result of our accurate measurements of the a- and b-axis resistivity, Hall coefficient, and the a-axis thermopower in untwinned YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{y} single crystals in a wide range of doping. It is found that both the a-axis resistivity and the Hall conductivity show anomalous dependences on the oxygen content y in the "60-K phase" below the pseudogap temperature T^*. The complete data set enables us to narrow down the possible pictures of the 60-K phase, with which we discuss a peculiar role of the pseudogap in the charge transport.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in PR

Coherence, incoherence and scaling along the c axis of YBa_2Cu_3O_{6+x}

The optical properties of single crystals of YBa_2Cu_3O_{6+x} have been examined along the c axis above and below the critical temperature (T_c) for a wide range of oxygen dopings. The temperature dependence of the optically-determined value of the dc conductivity (\sigma_{dc}) in the normal state suggests a crossover from incoherent (hopping-type) transport at lower oxygen dopings (x \lesssim 0.9) to more coherent anisotropic three-dimensional behavior in the overdoped (x \approx 0.99) material at temperatures close to T_c. The assumption that superconductivity occurs along the c axis through the Josephson effect yields a scaling relation between the strength of the superconducting condensate (\rho_{s,c}, a measure of the number of superconducting carriers), the critical temperature, and the normal-state c-axis value for \sigma_{dc} just above T_c; \rho_{s,c} \propto \sigma_{dc} T_c. This scaling relation is observed along the c axis for all oxygen dopings, as well as several other cuprate materials. However, the agreement with the Josephson coupling model does not necessarily imply incoherent transport, suggesting that these materials may indeed be tending towards coherent behavior at the higher oxygen dopings.Comment: Six pages with four figures and one tabl

Nanoscale phase separation in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3La_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_3 films: evidence for the texture driven optical anisotropy

The IR optical absorption (0.1-1.5 eV) in the $La_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_3$ films on LAO substrate exhibits the drastic temperature evolution of the spectral weight evidencing the insulator to metal transition. Single crystal films were found to reveal strong linear dichroism with anomalous spectral oscillations and fairly weak temperature dependence. Starting from the concept of phase separation, we develop the effective medium model to account for these effects. The optical anisotropy of the films is attributed to the texturization of the ellipsoidal inclusions of the quasimetal phase caused by a mismatch of the film and substrate and the twin texture of the latter.Comment: 6 pages, 5 Encapsulated PostScript figures, uses RevTeX

Pretransplant assessment of human liver grafts by plasma lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity in multiple organ donors.

In spite of the improved outcome of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLTx), primary graft nonfunction remains one of the life-threatening problems following OLTx. The purpose of this study was to evaluate plasma lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity in multiple organ donors as a predictor of liver allograft viability prior to OLTx. Thirty-nine donors were studied during a 5-month period between April and August 1988. Allograft hepatectomy was performed using a rapid technique or its minor modification with hilar dissections, and the allografts were stored cold (4 degrees C) in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution. Early post-transplant allograft function was classified as good, fair, or poor, according to the highest SGOT, SGPT, and prothrombin time within 5 days following OLTx. Procurement records were reviewed to identify donor data, which included conventional liver function tests, duration of hospital stay, history of cardiac arrest, and graft ischemic time. Blood samples from the donors were drawn immediately prior to aortic crossclamp, and from these plasma LCAT activity was determined. Plasma LCAT activity of all donors was significantly lower than that of healthy controls (12.4 +/- 8.0 vs 39.2 +/- 13.3 micrograms/ml per hour, P less than 0.01). LCAT activity (16.4 +/- 8.3 micrograms/ml per hour) in donors of grafts with good function was significantly higher than that in those with fair (8.6 +/- 4.5 micrograms/ml per hour, P less than 0.01) or poor (7.3 +/- 2.4 micrograms/ml per hour, P less than 0.01) function.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS