In situ measurements of HCN and CH3CN over the Pacific Ocean: Sources, sinks, and budgets

We report the first in situ measurements of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and methyl cyanide (CH3CN, acetonitrile) from the Pacific troposphere (0-12 km) obtained during the NASA Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific (TRACE-P) airborne mission (February-April 2001). Mean HCN and CH3CN mixing ratios of 243 ± 118 (median 218) ppt and 149 ± 56 (median 138) ppt, respectively, were measured. These in situ observations correspond to a mean tropospheric HCN column of 4.2 × 1015 molecules cm-2 and a CH3CN column of 2.5 × 1015 molecules cm-2. This is in good agreement with the 0-12 km HCN column of 4.4 (±0.6) × 1015 molecules cm-2 derived from infrared solar spectroscopic observations over Japan. Mixing ratios of HCN and CH3CN were greatly enhanced in pollution outflow from Asia and were well correlated with each other as well as with known tracers of biomass combustion (e.g., CH3Cl, CO). Volumetric enhancement (or emission) ratios (ERs) relative to CO in free tropospheric plumes, likely originating from fires, were 0.34% for HCN and 0.17% for CH3CN. ERs with respect to CH3Cl and CO in selected biomass burning (BB) plumes in the free troposphere and in boundary layer pollution episodes are used to estimate a global BB source of 0.8 ± 0.4 Tg (N) yr-1 for HCN and 0.4 ± 0.1 Tg (N) yr-1 for CH3CN. In comparison, emissions from industry and fossil fuel combustion are quite small (<0.05 Tg (N) yr-1). The vertical structure of HCN and CH3CN indicated reduced mixing ratios in the marine boundary layer (MBL). Using a simple box model, the observed gradients across the top of the MBL are used to derive an oceanic loss rate of 8.8 × 10-15 g (N) cm-2 s-1 for HCN and 3.4 × 10-15 g (N) cm-2 s-1 for CH3CN. An air-sea exchange model is used to conclude that this flux can be maintained if the oceans are undersaturated in HCN and CH3CN by 27% and 6%, respectively. These observations also correspond to an open ocean mean deposition velocity (vd) of 0.12 cm s-1 for HCN and 0.06 cm s-1 for CH3CN. It is inferred that oceanic loss is a dominant sink for these cyanides and that they deposit some 1.4 Tg (N) of nitrogen annually to the oceans. Assuming loss to the oceans and reaction with OH radicals as the major removal processes, a mean atmospheric residence time of 5.0 months for HCN and 6.6 months for CH3CN is calculated. A global budget analysis shows that the sources and sinks of HCN and CH3CN are roughly in balance but large uncertainties remain in part due to a lack of observational data from the atmosphere and the oceans. Pathways leading to the oceanic (and soil) degradation of these cyanides are poorly known but are expected to be biological in nature

Dipolar ordering in Fe8?

We show that the low-temperature physics of molecular nanomagnets, contrary to the prevailing one-molecule picture, must be determined by the long-range magnetic ordering due to many-body dipolar interactions. The calculations here performed, using Ewald's summation, suggest a ferromagnetic ground state with a Curie temperature of about 130 mK. The energy of this state is quite close to those of an antiferromagnetic state and to a glass of frozen spin chains. The latter may be realized at finite temperature due to its high entropy.Comment: 7 pages, no figures, submitted to EP

Spatio-Temporal Variability of Atmospheric CO2 as Observed from In-Situ Measurements over North America during NASA Field Campaigns (2004-2008)

Regional-scale measurements were made over the eastern United States (Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment - North America (INTEX-NA), summer 2004); Mexico (Megacity Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations (MILAGRO), March 2006); the eastern North Pacific and Alaska (INTEX-B May 2006); and the Canadian Arctic (Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS), spring and summer 2008). For these field campaigns, instrumentation for the in situ measurement of CO2 was integrated on the NASA DC-8 research aircraft providing high-resolution (1 second) data traceable to the WMO CO2 mole fraction scale. These observations provide unique and definitive data sets via their intermediate-scale coverage and frequent vertical profiles (0.1 - 12 km) for examining the variability CO2 exhibits above the Earth s surface. A bottom-up anthropogenic CO2 emissions inventory (1deg 1deg) and processing methodology has also been developed for North America in support of these airborne science missions. In this presentation, the spatio-temporal distributions of CO2 and CO column values derived from the campaign measurements will be examined in conjunction with the emissions inventory and transport histories to aid in the interpretation of the CO2 observations

Polarizing Bubble Collisions

We predict the polarization of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons that results from a cosmic bubble collision. The polarization is purely E-mode, symmetric around the axis pointing towards the collision bubble, and has several salient features in its radial dependence that can help distinguish it from a more conventional explanation for unusually cold or hot features in the CMB sky. The anomalous "cold spot" detected by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite is a candidate for a feature produced by such a collision, and the Planck satellite and other proposed surveys will measure the polarization on it in the near future. The detection of such a collision would provide compelling evidence for the string theory landscape.Comment: Published version. 15 pages, 8 figure

Nuclear multifragmentation and fission: similarity and differences

Thermal multifragmentation of hot nuclei is interpreted as the nuclear liquid--fog phase transition deep inside the spinodal region. The experimental data for p(8.1GeV) + Au collisions are analyzed. It is concluded that the decay process of hot nuclei is characterized by two size parameters: transition state and freeze-out volumes. The similarity between dynamics of fragmentation and ordinary fission is discussed. The IMF emission time is related to the mean rupture time at the multi-scission point, which corresponds to the kinetic freeze-out configuration.Comment: 7 pages, 3 Postscript figures, Proceedings of IWM 2005, Catani

KRATTA, a triple telescope array for charged reaction products

KRATTA, a new, low threshold, broad energy range triple telescope array has been built to measure the energy, emission angles and isotopic composition of light charged reaction products. It has been equipped with fully digital chains of electronics. The array performed very well during the ASY-EOS experiment, conducted in May 2011 at GSI. The structure and performance of the array are presented using the first experimental results

Isotopic Dependence of the Nuclear Caloric Curve

The A/Z dependence of projectile fragmentation at relativistic energies has been studied with the ALADIN forward spectrometer at SIS. A stable beam of 124Sn and radioactive beams of 124La and 107Sn at 600 MeV per nucleon have been used in order to explore a wide range of isotopic compositions. Chemical freeze-out temperatures are found to be nearly invariant with respect to the A/Z of the produced spectator sources, consistent with predictions for expanded systems. Small Coulomb effects (\Delta T \approx 0.6 MeV) appear for residue production near the onset of multifragmentation.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publ. in Phys. Rev. Let