735 research outputs found
Vertical information content of nadir measurements of tropospheric NO2 from satellite
Poster presented at the EGU General Assembly 2014 in Vienna/Austria
Retrieval and molecule sensitivity studies for the global ozone monitoring experiment and the scanning imaging absorption spectrometer for atmospheric chartography
The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) and the SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY) are diode based spectrometers that will make atmospheric constituent and aerosol measurements from European satellite platforms beginning in the mid 1990's. GOME measures the atmosphere in the UV and visible in nadir scanning, while SCIAMACHY performs a combination of nadir, limb, and occultation measurements in the UV, visible, and infrared. A summary is presented of the sensitivity studies that were performed for SCIAMACHY measurements. As the GOME measurement capability is a subset of the SCIAMACHY measurement capability, the nadir, UV, and visible portion of the studies is shown to apply to GOME as well
The Radial Structure of SNR N103B
We report on the results from a Chandra ACIS observation of the young,
compact, supernova remnant N103B. The unprecedented spatial resolution of
Chandra reveals sub-arcsecond structure, both in the brightness and in spectral
variations. Underlying these small-scale variations is a surprisingly simple
radial structure in the equivalent widths of the strong Si and S emission
lines. We investigate these radial variations through spatially resolved
spectroscopy using a plane-parallel, non-equilibrium ionization model with
multiple components. The majority of the emission arises from components with a
temperature of 1 keV: a fully ionized hydrogen component; a high ionization
timescale (n_e*t > 10^12 s cm^-3) component containing Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe;
and a low ionization timescale (n_e*t ~ 10^{11} s cm^-3) O, Ne, and Mg
component. To reproduce the strong Fe Kalpha line, it is necessary to include
additional Fe in a hot (> 2 keV), low ionization (n_e*t ~ 10^10.8 s cm^-3)
component. This hot Fe may be in the form of hot Fe bubbles, formed in the
radioactive decay of clumps of 56Ni. We find no radial variation in the
ionization timescales or temperatures of the various components. Rather, the Si
and S equivalent widths increase at large radii because these lines, as well as
those of Ar and Ca, are formed in a shell occupying the outer half of the
remnant. A shell of hot Fe is located interior to this, but there is a large
region of overlap between these two shells. In the inner 30% of the remnant,
there is a core of cooler, 1 keV Fe. We find that the distribution of the
ejecta and the yields of the intermediate mass species are consistent with
model prediction for Type Ia events.Comment: 34 pages, including 7 tables and 7 figures, Accepted by Ap
0103-72.6: A New Oxygen-Rich Supernova Remnant in the Small Magellanic Cloud
010372.6, the second brightest X-ray supernova remnant (SNR) in the Small
Magellanic Cloud (SMC), has been observed with the {\it Chandra X-Ray
Observatory}. Our {\it Chandra} observation unambiguously resolves the X-ray
emission into a nearly complete, remarkably circular shell surrounding bright
clumpy emission in the center of the remnant. The observed X-ray spectrum for
the central region is evidently dominated by emission from reverse shock-heated
metal-rich ejecta. Elemental abundances in this ejecta material are
particularly enhanced in oxygen and neon, while less prominent in the heavier
elements Si, S, and Fe. We thus propose that 010372.6 is a new
``oxygen-rich'' SNR, making it only the second member of the class in the SMC.
The outer shell is the limb-brightened, soft X-ray emission from the swept-up
SMC interstellar medium. The presence of O-rich ejecta and the SNR's location
within an H{\small II} region attest to a massive star core-collapse origin for
010372.6. The elemental abundance ratios derived from the ejecta suggest an
18 M progenitor star.Comment: 6 pages (ApJ emulator format), including 5 figures and 2 tables. For
high quality Figs.1,2, & 3, contact [email protected]. Accepted by the ApJ
Letter
Retrieval of nitric oxide in the mesosphere from SCIAMACHY nominal limb spectra
We present a retrieval algorithm for nitric oxide (NO) number densities from
measurements from the SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric
CHartographY (SCIAMACHY, on Envisat) nominal limb mode (0--91 km). The NO
number densities are derived from atmospheric emissions in the gamma bands in
the range 230--300 nm, measured by the SCIAMACHY ultra-violet (UV) channel 1.
The retrieval is adapted from the mesosphere and lower thermosphere mode (MLT,
50--150 km) NO retrieval (Bender et al., 2013, arXiv:1808.02388), including the
same 3-D ray tracing, 2-D retrieval grid, and regularisations with respect to
altitude and latitude.
Since the nominal mode limb scans extend only to about 91 km, we use NO
densities in the lower thermosphere (above 92 km), derived from empirical
models, as a priori input. The priors are the Nitric Oxide Empirical Model
(NOEM; Marsh et al., 2004) and a regression model derived from the MLT NO data
comparison (Bender et al., 2015). Our algorithm yields plausible NO number
densities from 60 to 85 km from the SCIAMACHY nominal limb mode scans. Using a
priori input substantially reduces the incorrect attribution of NO from the
lower thermosphere, where no direct limb measurements are available. The
vertical resolution lies between 5 and 10 km in the altitude range 65--80 km.
Analysing all SCIAMACHY nominal limb scans provides almost 10 years (from
August 2002 to April 2012) of daily NO measurements in this altitude range.
This provides a unique data record of NO in the upper atmosphere and is
invaluable for constraining NO in the mesosphere, in particular for testing and
validating chemistry climate models during this period.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, published 201
Chandra X-Ray Study of Galactic Supernova Remnant G299.2-2.9
We report on observations of the Galactic supernova remnant (SNR)
G299.22.9 with the {\it Chandra X-Ray Observatory}. The high resolution
images with {\it Chandra} resolve the X-ray-bright knots, shell, and diffuse
emission extending beyond the bright shell. Interior to the X-ray shell is
faint diffuse emission occupying the central regions of the SNR.
Spatially-resolved spectroscopy indicates a large foreground absorption
( 3.5 10 cm), which supports a
relatively distant location ( 5 kpc) for the SNR. The blast wave is
encountering a highly inhomogeneous ambient medium with the densities ranging
over more than an order of magnitude ( 0.1 4 cm).
Assuming the distance of 5 kpc, we derive a Sedov age of
4500 yr and an explosion energy of 1.6 10
ergs. The ambient density structure and the overall morphology suggest that
G299.22.9 may be a limb-brightened partial shell extending to 7 pc
radius surrounded by fainter emission extending beyond that to a radius of
9 pc. This suggests the SNR exploded in a region of space where there is
a density gradient whose direction lies roughly along the line of sight. The
faint central region shows strong line emission from heavy elements of Si and
Fe, which is caused by the presence of the overabundant stellar ejecta there.
We find no evidence for stellar ejecta enriched in light elements of O and Ne.
The observed abundance structure of the metal-rich ejecta supports a Type Ia
origin for G299.22.9.Comment: 16 pages (AASTex emulator style), 3 Tables, 10 Figures (including 1
color: Figure 1), Accepted by Ap
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