38,391 research outputs found
Detection of short-term changes in vegetation cover by use of LANDSAT imagery
The author has identified the following significant results. By using a constant band 6 to band 5 radiance ratio of 1.25, the changing pattern of areas of relatively dense vegetation cover was detected for the semiarid region in the vicinity of Tucson, Arizona. Electronically produced binary thematic masks were used to map areas with dense vegetation. The foliar cover threshold represented by the ratio was not accurately determined but field measurements show that the threshold lies in the range of 10 to 25 percent foliage cover. Montana evergreen forests with constant dense cover were correctly shown to exceed the threshold on all dates. The summer active grassland exceeded the threshold in the summer unless rainfall was insufficient. Desert areas exceeded the threshold during the spring of 1973 following heavy rains; the same areas during the rainless spring of 1974 did not exceed threshold. Irrigated fields, parks, golf courses, and riparian communities were among the habitats most frequently surpassing the threshold
Microscale Alfven waves in the solar wind at 1 AU
Analysis of IMP 1 (Explorer 43) plasma and magnetic field fluctuations on a scale of one hour revealed that linearly and circularly polarized Alfven waves are rarely present in the solar wind at 1 AU. The most prevalent microscale fluctuations appeared to be large-amplitude Alfven waves with small but non-zero fluctuations in the magnetic field intensity. These waves are present about 40% of the time and are predominantly propagating away from the sun
Interplanetary boundary layers at 1 AU
The structure and nature of discontinuities in the interplanetary magnetic field at 1 AU in the period March 18, 1971 to April 9, 1971, is determined by using high-resolution magnetic field measurements from Explorer 34. The discontinuities that were selected for this analysis occurred under a variety of interplanetary conditions at an average rate of 0.5/hr. This set does not include all discontinuities that were present, but the sample is large and it is probably representative. Both tangential and rotational discontinuities were identified, the ratio of TD's to RD's being approximately 3 to 1. Tangential discontinuities were observed every day, even among Alfvenic fluctuations. The structure of most of the boundary layers was simple and ordered, i.e., the magnetic field usually changed smoothly and monotonically from one side of the boundary layer to the other
Scalar Field as Dark Matter in the Universe
We investigate the hypothesis that the scalar field is the dark matter and
the dark energy in the Cosmos, wich comprises about 95% of the matter of the
Universe. We show that this hypothesis explains quite well the recent
observations on type Ia supernovae.Comment: 4 pages REVTeX, 1 eps figure. Minor changes. To appear in Classical
and Quantum Gravit
Diffraction-contrast imaging of cold atoms
We consider the inverse problem of in-line holography, applied to
minimally-destructive imaging of cold atom clouds. Absorption imaging
near-resonance provides a simple, but destructive measurement of atom column
density. Imaging off resonance greatly reduces heating, and sequential images
may be taken. Under the conditions required for off-resonant imaging, the
generally-intractable inverse problem may be linearized. A
minimally-destructive, quantitative and high-resolution image of the atom cloud
column density is then retrieved from a single diffraction pattern.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures v2: minor changes in response to referee reports,
mostly additional experimental detail v3: revisions to figure 3: added trace
and changed image. Minor text and referencing changes. Accepted by Phys Rev A
(Rapid Commun
ASCA observations of type-2 Seyfert galaxies: II. The Importance of X-ray Scattering and Reflection
We discuss the importance of X-ray scattering and Compton reflection in
type-2 Seyfert galaxies, based upon the analysis of ASCA observations of 25
such sources. Consideration of the iron Kalpha, [O III] line and X-ray
variability suggest that NGC 1068, NGC 4945, NGC 2992, Mrk 3, Mrk 463E and Mrk
273 are dominated by reprocessed X-rays. We examine the properties of these
sources in more detail.
We find that the iron Kalpha complex contains significant contributions from
neutral and high-ionization species of iron. Compton reflection, hot gas and
starburst emission all appear to make significant contributions to the observed
X-ray spectra.
Mrk 3 is the only source in this subsample which does not have a significant
starburst contamination. The ASCA spectrum below 3 keV is dominated by hot
scattering gas with U_X ~ 5, N_H ~ 4 x 10^23 cm^-2. This material is more
highly ionized than the zone of material comprising the warm absorber seen in
Seyfert~1 galaxies, but may contain a contribution from shock-heated gas
associated with the jet. Estimates of the X-ray scattering fraction cover 0.25
- 5%. The spectrum above 3 keV appears to be dominated by a Compton reflection
component although there is evidence that the primary continuum component
becomes visible close to 10 keV.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures. LaTeX with encapsulated postscript. To appear in
the Astrophysical Journal. Also available via
http://lheawww.gsfc.nasa.gov/~george/papers/gnt_s2p2/abstract.htm
Reddenings of FGK supergiants and classical Cepheids from spectroscopic data
Accurate and homogeneous atmospheric parameters (Teff, log (g), Vt, [Fe/H])
are derived for 74 FGK non-variable supergiants from high-resolution, high
signal-to-noise ratio, echelle spectra. Extremely high precision for the
inferred effective temperatures (10-40 K) is achieved by using the line-depth
ratio method. The new data are combined with atmospheric values for 164
classical Cepheids, observed at 675 different pulsation phases, taken from our
previously published studies. The derived values are correlated with unreddened
B-V colours compiled from the literature for the investigated stars in order to
obtain an empirical relationship of the form: (B-V)o = 57.984 - 10.3587(log
Teff)^2 + 1.67572(log Teff)^3 - 3.356(log (g)) + 0.0321(Vt) + 0.2615[Fe/H] +
0.8833((log (g))(log Teff)). The expression is used to estimate colour excesses
E(B-V) for individual supergiants and classical Cepheids, with a precision of
+-0.05 mag. for supergiants and Cepheids with n=1-2 spectra, reaching +-0.025
mag. for Cepheids with n>2 spectra, matching uncertainties for the most
sophisticated photometric techniques. The reddening scale is also a close match
to the system of space reddenings for Cepheids. The application range is for
spectral types F0--K0 and luminosity classes I and II.Comment: accepted for publication (MNRAS
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