731 research outputs found
Characterization of waste products prepared from radioactive contaminated clayey soil cemented according to the GEODUR process
Flux calibration of medium-resolution spectra from 300 nm to 2500 nm: Model reference spectra and telluric correction
While the near-infrared wavelength regime is becoming more and more important
for astrophysics there is a marked lack of spectrophotometric standard star
data that would allow the flux calibration of such data. Furthermore, flux
calibrating medium- to high-resolution \'echelle spectroscopy data is
challenging even in the optical wavelength range, because the available flux
standard data are often too coarsely sampled. We will provide standard star
reference data that allow users to derive response curves from 300nm to 2500nm
for spectroscopic data of medium to high resolution, including those taken with
\'echelle spectrographs. In addition we describe a method to correct for
moderate telluric absorption without the need of observing telluric standard
stars. As reference data for the flux standard stars we use theoretical spectra
derived from stellar model atmospheres. We verify that they provide an
appropriate description of the observed standard star spectra by checking for
residuals in line cores and line overlap regions in the ratios of observed
(X-shooter) spectra to model spectra. The finally selected model spectra are
then corrected for remaining mismatches and photometrically calibrated using
independent observations. The correction of telluric absorption is performed
with the help of telluric model spectra.We provide new, finely sampled
reference spectra without telluric absorption for six southern flux standard
stars that allow the users to flux calibrate their data from 300 nm to 2500 nm,
and a method to correct for telluric absorption using atmospheric models.Comment: Reference spectra available at CDS. Published in A&A 568, A9, 201
Greenland during the last interglacial:the relative importance of insolation and oceanic changes
Insolation changes during the Eemian (the last interglacial period,
129 000–116 000 years before present) resulted in warmer than present
conditions in the Arctic region. The NEEM ice core record suggests
warming of 8 ± 4 K in northwestern Greenland based on stable water
isotopes. Here we use general circulation model experiments to investigate
the causes of the Eemian warming in Greenland. Simulations of the atmospheric
response to combinations of Eemian insolation and preindustrial oceanic
conditions and vice versa are used to disentangle the impacts of the
insolation change and the related changes in sea surface temperatures and sea
ice conditions. The changed oceanic conditions cause warming throughout the
year, prolonging the impact of the summertime insolation increase.
Consequently, the oceanic conditions cause an annual mean warming of 2 K at
the NEEM site, whereas the insolation alone causes an insignificant change.
Taking the precipitation changes into account, however, the insolation and
oceanic changes cause more comparable increases in the precipitation-weighted
temperature, implying that both contributions are important for the ice core
record at the NEEM site. The simulated Eemian precipitation-weighted warming
of 2.4 K at the NEEM site is low compared to the ice core reconstruction,
partially due to missing feedbacks related to ice sheet changes and an
extensive sea ice cover. Surface mass balance calculations with an energy
balance model further indicate that the combination of temperature and
precipitation anomalies leads to potential mass loss in the north and
southwestern parts of the ice sheet. The oceanic conditions favor increased
accumulation in the southeast, while the insolation appears to be the
dominant cause of the expected ice sheet reduction. Consequently, the Eemian
is not a suitable analogue for future ice sheet changes
Molecfit: A general tool for telluric absorption correction. I. Method and application to ESO instruments
Context: The interaction of the light from astronomical objects with the
constituents of the Earth's atmosphere leads to the formation of telluric
absorption lines in ground-based collected spectra. Correcting for these lines,
mostly affecting the red and infrared region of the spectrum, usually relies on
observations of specific stars obtained close in time and airmass to the
science targets, therefore using precious observing time. Aims: We present
molecfit, a tool for correcting for telluric absorption lines based on
synthetic modelling of the Earth's atmospheric transmission. Molecfit is
versatile and can be used with data obtained with various ground-based
telescopes and instruments. Methods: Molecfit combines a publicly available
radiative transfer code, a molecular line database, atmospheric profiles, and
various kernels to model the instrument line spread function. The atmospheric
profiles are created by merging a standard atmospheric profile representative
of a given observatory's climate, of local meteorological data, and of
dynamically retrieved altitude profiles for temperature, pressure, and
humidity. We discuss the various ingredients of the method, its applicability,
and its limitations. We also show examples of telluric line correction on
spectra obtained with a suite of ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) instruments.
Results: Compared to previous similar tools, molecfit takes the best results
for temperature, pressure, and humidity in the atmosphere above the observatory
into account. As a result, the standard deviation of the residuals after
correction of unsaturated telluric lines is frequently better than 2% of the
continuum. Conclusion: Molecfit is able to accurately model and correct for
telluric lines over a broad range of wavelengths and spectral resolutions.
(Abridged)Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in Astronomy
and Astrophysic
A new fireworm (Amphinomidae) from the Cretaceous of Lebanon identified from three-dimensionally preserved myoanatomy
© 2015 Parry et al. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. The attached file is the published version of the article
Multiple optimality criteria support Ornithoscelida
A recent study of early dinosaur evolution using equal-weights parsimony recovered a scheme of dinosaur interrelationships and classification that differed from historical consensus in a single, but significant, respect; Ornithischia and Saurischia were not recovered as monophyletic sister-taxa, but rather Ornithischia and Theropoda formed a novel clade named Ornithoscelida. However, these analyses only used maximum parsimony, and numerous recent simulation studies have questioned the accuracy of parsimony under equal weights. Here, we provide additional support for this alternative hypothesis using Bayesian implementation of the Mkv model, as well as through number of additional parsimony analyses, including implied weighting. Using Bayesian inference and implied weighting, we recover the same fundamental topology for Dinosauria as the original study, with a monophyletic Ornithoscelida, demonstrating that the main suite of methods used in morphological phylogenetics recover this novel hypothesis. This result was further scrutinized through the systematic exclusion of different character sets. Novel characters from the original study (those not taken or adapted from previous phylogenetic studies) were found to be more important for resolving the relationships within Dinosauromorpha than the relationships within Dinosauria. Reanalysis of a modified version of the character matrix that supports the Ornithischia–Saurischia dichotomy under maximum parsimony also supports this hypothesis under implied weighting, but not under the Mkv model, with both Theropoda and Sauropodomorpha becoming paraphyletic with respect to Ornithischia
Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan
The origin of ctenophores (comb jellies) is obscured by their controversial phylogenetic position, with recent phylogenomic analyses resolving either sponges or ctenophores as the sister group of all other animals. Fossil taxa can provide morphological evidence that may elucidate the origins of derived characters and shared ancestries among divergent taxa, providing a means to “break” long branches in phylogenetic trees. Here we describe new fossil material from the early Cambrian Chengjiang Biota, Yunnan Province, China, including the putative cnidarian Xianguangia, the new taxon Daihua sanqiong gen et sp. nov., and Dinomischus venustus, informally referred to as “dinomischids” here. “Dinomischids” possess a basal calyx encircled by 18 tentacles that surround the mouth. The tentacles carry pinnules, each with a row of stiff filamentous structures interpreted as very large compound cilia of a size otherwise only known in ctenophores. Together with the Cambrian tulip animal Siphusauctum and the armored Cambrian scleroctenophores, they exhibit anatomies that trace ctenophores to a sessile, polypoid stem lineage. This body plan resembles the polypoid, tentaculate morphology of cnidarians, including a blind gastric cavity partitioned by mesenteries. We propose that comb rows are derived from tentacles with paired sets of pinnules that each bear a row of compound cilia. The scleroctenophores exhibit paired comb rows, also observed in Siphusauctum, in addition to an organic skeleton, shared as well by Dinomischus, Daihua, and Xianguangia. We formulate a hypothesis in which ctenophores evolved from sessile, polypoid suspension feeders, sharing similarities with cnidarians that suggest either a close relationship between these two phyla, a striking pattern of early convergent evolution, or an ancestral condition for either metazoans or eumetazoans
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