3,104 research outputs found
Laboratory measurements of radiance and reflectance spectra of dilute secondary-treated sewage sludge
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), conducted a research program to evaluate the feasibility of remotely monitoring ocean dumping of waste products such as acid and sewage sludge. One aspect of the research program involved the measurements of upwelled spectral signatures for sewage-sludge mixtures of different concentrations in an 11600-liter tank. This paper describes the laboratory arrangement and presents radiance and reflectance spectra in the visible and near-infrared ranges for concentrations ranging from 9.7 to 180 ppm of secondary-treated sewage sludge mixed with two types of base water. Results indicate that upwelled radiance varies in a near-linear manner with concentration and that the sludge has a practically flat signal response between 420 and 970 nm. Reflectance spectra were obtained for the sewage-sludge mixtures at all wavelengths and concentrations
Laboratory measurements of radiance and reflectance spectra of dilute primary-treated sewage sludge
The feasibility of remotely monitoring ocean dumping of waste products such as acid and sewage sludge is evaluated. The laboratory arrangement, solar simulator, and test results from three experiments conducted in the laboratory are described. Radiance and reflectance spectra are presented for primary-treated sewage sludge mixed with two types of base water. Results indicate that upwelled reflectance varies in a near-linear manner with concentration and that the sludge has a practically flat signal response between 420 and 970 nm. Well-defined upwelled reflectance spectra were obtained for the sewage-sludge mixtures at all wavelengths and concentrations. The spectral-reflectance values appeared to be influenced by the type of base water, but this influence was small, especially for the mixtures with low concentrations of sewage sludge
A lattice of microtraps for ultracold atoms based on patterned magnetic films
We have realized a two dimensional permanent magnetic lattice of
Ioffe-Pritchard microtraps for ultracold atoms. The lattice is formed by a
single 300 nm magnetized layer of FePt, patterned using optical lithography.
Our magnetic lattice consists of more than 15000 tightly confining microtraps
with a density of 1250 traps/mm. Simple analytical approximations for the
magnetic fields produced by the lattice are used to derive relevant trap
parameters. We load ultracold atoms into at least 30 lattice sites at a
distance of approximately 10 m from the film surface. The present result
is an important first step towards quantum information processing with neutral
atoms in magnetic lattice potentials.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Asymmetric double-well potential for single atom interferometry
We consider the evolution of a single-atom wavefunction in a time-dependent
double-well interferometer in the presence of a spatially asymmetric potential.
We examine a case where a single trapping potential is split into an asymmetric
double well and then recombined again. The interferometer involves a
measurement of the first excited state population as a sensitive measure of the
asymmetric potential. Based on a two-mode approximation a Bloch vector model
provides a simple and satisfactory description of the dynamical evolution. We
discuss the roles of adiabaticity and asymmetry in the double-well
interferometer. The Bloch model allows us to account for the effects of
asymmetry on the excited state population throughout the interferometric
process and to choose the appropriate splitting, holding and recombination
periods in order to maximize the output signal. We also compare the outcomes of
the Bloch vector model with the results of numerical simulations of the
multi-state time-dependent Schroedinger equation.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Laboratory measurements of physical, chemical, and optical characteristics of Lake Chicot sediment waters
Reflectance, chromaticity, diffuse attenuation, beam attenuation, and several other physical and chemical properties were measured for various water mixtures of lake bottom sediment. Mixture concentrations range from 5 ppm to 700 ppm by weight of total suspended solids in filtered deionized tap water. Upwelled reflectance is a nonlinear function of remote sensing wave lengths. Near-infrared wavelengths are useful for monitoring highly turbid waters with sediment concentrations above 100 ppm. It is found that both visible and near infrared wavelengths, beam attenuation correlates well with total suspended solids ranging over two orders of magnitude
Investigation of effects of background water on upwelled reflectance spectra and techniques for analysis of dilute primary-treated sewage sludge
In an effort to improve understanding of the effects of variations in background water on reflectance spectra, laboratory tests were conducted with various concentrations of sewage sludge diluted with several types of background water. The results from these tests indicate that reflectance spectra for sewage-sludge mixtures are dependent upon the reflectance of the background water. Both the ratio of sewage-sludge reflectance to background-water reflectance and the ratio of the difference in reflectance to background-water reflectance show spectral variations for different turbid background waters. The difference in reflectance is the only parameter considered
Three-dimensional character of atom-chip-based rf-dressed potentials
We experimentally investigate the properties of radio-frequency-dressed
potentials for Bose-Einstein condensates on atom chips. The three-dimensional
potential forms a connected pair of parallel waveguides. We show that
rf-dressed potentials are robust against the effect of small magnetic-field
variations on the trap potential. Long-lived dipole oscillations of condensates
induced in the rf-dressed potentials can be tuned to a remarkably low damping
rate. We study a beam-splitter for Bose-Einstein condensates and show that a
propagating condensate can be dynamically split in two vertically separated
parts and guided along two paths. The effect of gravity on the potential can be
tuned and compensated for using a rf-field gradient.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Improved detection of small atom numbers through image processing
We demonstrate improved detection of small trapped atomic ensembles through
advanced post-processing and optimal analysis of absorption images. A fringe
removal algorithm reduces imaging noise to the fundamental photon-shot-noise
level and proves beneficial even in the absence of fringes. A
maximum-likelihood estimator is then derived for optimal atom-number estimation
and is applied to real experimental data to measure the population differences
and intrinsic atom shot-noise between spatially separated ensembles each
comprising between 10 and 2000 atoms. The combined techniques improve our
signal-to-noise by a factor of 3, to a minimum resolvable population difference
of 17 atoms, close to our ultimate detection limit.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Box traps on an atom chip for one-dimensional quantum gases
We present the implementation of tailored trapping potentials for ultracold
gases on an atom chip. We realize highly elongated traps with box-like
confinement along the long, axial direction combined with conventional harmonic
confinement along the two radial directions. The design, fabrication and
characterization of the atom chip and the box traps is described. We load
ultracold (K) clouds of Rb in a box trap, and demonstrate
Bose-gas focusing as a means to characterize these atomic clouds in arbitrarily
shaped potentials. Our results show that box-like axial potentials on atom
chips are very promising for studies of one-dimensional quantum gases.Comment: 9 pages 4 figure
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