65,965 research outputs found

    Velocity measurements for a solar active region fan loop from Hinode/EIS observations

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    The velocity pattern of a fan loop structure within a solar active region over the temperature range 0.15-1.5 MK is derived using data from the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on board the Hinode satellite. The loop is aligned towards the observer's line-of-sight and shows downflows (redshifts) of around 15 km/s up to a temperature of 0.8 MK, but for temperatures of 1.0 MK and above the measured velocity shifts are consistent with no net flow. This velocity result applies over a projected spatial distance of 9 Mm and demonstrates that the cooler, redshifted plasma is physically disconnected from the hotter, stationary plasma. A scenario in which the fan loops consist of at least two groups of "strands" - one cooler and downflowing, the other hotter and stationary -- is suggested. The cooler strands may represent a later evolutionary stage of the hotter strands. A density diagnostic of Mg VII was used to show that the electron density at around 0.8 MK falls from 3.2 x 10^9 cm^-3 at the loop base, to 5.0 x 10^8 cm^-3 at a projected height of 15 Mm. A filling factor of 0.2 is found at temperatures close to the formation temperature of Mg VII (0.8 MK), confirming that the cooler, downflowing plasma occupies only a fraction of the apparent loop volume. The fan loop is rooted within a so-called "outflow region" that displays low intensity and blueshifts of up to 25 km/s in Fe XII 195.12 A (formed at 1.5 MK), in contrast to the loop's redshifts of 15 km/s at 0.8 MK. A new technique for obtaining an absolute wavelength calibration for the EIS instrument is presented and an instrumental effect, possibly related to a distorted point spread function, that affects velocity measurements is identified.Comment: 42 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Ap

    Human Dimensions of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries: An Overview of Context, Concepts, Tools and Methods

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    This document aims to provide a better understanding of the role of the economic, institutional and sociocultural components within the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) process and to examine some potential methods and approaches that may facilitate the adoption of EAF management. It explores both the human context for the ecosystem approach to fisheries and the human dimensions involved in implementing the EAF. For the former, the report provides background material essential to understand prior to embarking on EAF initiatives, including an understanding of key concepts and issues, of the valuation of aquatic ecosystems socially, culturally and economically, and of the many policy, legal, institutional, social and economic considerations relevant to the EAF. With respect to facilitating EAF implementation, the report deals with a series of specific aspects: (1) determining the boundaries, scale and scope of the EAF; (2) assessing the various benefits and costs involved, seen from social, economic, ecological and management perspectives; (3) utilizing appropriate decision-making tools in EAF; (4) creating and/or adopting internal incentives and institutional arrangements to promote, facilitate and fund the adoption of EAF management; and (5) finding suitable external (non-fisheries) approaches for financing EAF implementation

    Spectroscopic signature of Alfv\'en waves damping in a polar coronal hole up to 0.4 solar radii

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    Between February 24-25, 2009, the EIS spectrometer onboard the Hinode spacecraft performed special "sit & stare" observations above the South polar coronal hole continuously over more than 22 hours. Spectra were acquired with the 1" slit placed off-limb covering altitudes up to 0.48 R⊙_\odot (3.34×1023.34\times 10^2 Mm) above the Sun surface, in order to study with EIS the non-thermal spectral line broadenings. Spectral lines such as Fe {\sc xii} λ\lambda186.88, Fe {\sc xii} λ\lambda193.51, Fe {\sc xii} λ\lambda195.12 and Fe {\sc xiii} λ\lambda202.04 are observed with good statistics up to high altitudes and they have been analyzed in this study. Results show that the FWHM of Fe {\sc xii} λ\lambda195.12 line increases up to ≃0.14\simeq 0.14 R⊙_\odot, then decreases higher up. EIS stray light has been estimated and removed. Derived electron density and non-thermal velocity profiles have been used to estimate the total energy flux transported by Alfv\'en waves off-limb in polar coronal hole up to ≃0.4\simeq 0.4 R⊙_\odot. The computed Alfv\'en wave energy flux density fwf_w progressively decays with altitude from fw≃1.2⋅106f_w \simeq 1.2 \cdot 10^6 erg cm−2^{-2} s−1^{-1} at 0.03 R⊙_\odot down to fw≃8.5⋅103f_w \simeq 8.5 \cdot 10^3 erg cm−2^{-2} s−1^{-1} at 0.4 R⊙_\odot, with an average energy decay rate Δfw/Δh≃−4.5⋅10−5\Delta f_w / \Delta h \simeq -4.5 \cdot 10^{-5} erg cm−3^{-3} s−1^{-1}. Hence, this result suggests energy deposition by Alfv\'en waves in a polar coronal hole, thus providing a significant source for coronal heating.Comment: Physical units of the Alfv\'en wave Energy Decay Rate Δfw/Δh\Delta f_w / \Delta h revised with respect to the published version. Scientific results and conclusions unchange

    The degenerate gravitino scenario

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    In this work, we explore the "degenerate gravitino" scenario where the mass difference between the gravitino and the lightest MSSM particle is much smaller than the gravitino mass itself. In this case, the energy released in the decay of the next to lightest sypersymmetric particle (NLSP) is reduced. Consequently the cosmological and astrophysical constraints on the gravitino abundance, and hence on the reheating temperature, become softer than in the usual case. On the other hand, such small mass splittings generically imply a much longer lifetime for the NLSP. We find that, in the constrained MSSM (CMSSM), for neutralino LSP or NLSP, reheating temperatures compatible with thermal leptogenesis are reached for small splittings of order 10^{-2} GeV. While for stau NLSP, temperatures of 4x10^9 GeV can be obtained even for splittings of order of tens of GeVs. This "degenerate gravitino" scenario offers a possible way out to the gravitino problem for thermal leptogenesis in supersymmetric theories.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figures and 1 table. Minor typos and references fixed. Matches published version in JCAP

    Cavitation scaling experiments with headforms : bubble dynamics

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    Utilizing some novel instrumentation which allowed detection and location of individual cavitation bubbles in flows around headforms. Ceccio and Brennen (1991 and 1989) recently examined the interaction between individual bubbles and the structure of the boundary layer and flow field in which the bubble is growing and collapsing. They were able to show that individual bubbles are often fissioned by the fluid shear and that this process can significantly effect the acoustic signal produced by the collapse. Furthermore they were able to demonstrate a relationship between the number of cavitation events and the nuclei number distribution measured by holographic methods in the upstream flow. More recently Kumar and Brenncn (1991-1992) have closely examined further statistical properties of the acoustical signals from individual cavitation bubbles on two different headformsm in order to learn more about the bubble/flow interactions. However the above experiments were all conducted in the same facility with the same size of headform (5.08cm in diameter) and over a fairly narrow range of flow velocities (around 9m/s). Clearly this raises the issue of how the phenomena identified in those earlier experiments change with changes of speed, scale and facility. The present paper will describe experiments conducted in order to try to answer some of these important qucstions regarding the scaling of the cavitation phenomena. We present data from experiments conducted in the Large Cavitation Channel of the David Taylor Research Center in Memphis, Tennessee, on similar headforms which are 5.08, 25.4 and 50.8cm in diameter for speeds ranging up to 15m/s and for a range of cavitation numbers. In this paper we focus on visual observations of the cavitation patterns and changes in these patterns with speed and headform size
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