The LAGUNA design study- towards giant liquid based underground detectors for neutrino physics and astrophysics and proton decay searches

The feasibility of a next generation neutrino observatory in Europe is being considered within the LAGUNA design study. To accommodate giant neutrino detectors and shield them from cosmic rays, a new very large underground infrastructure is required. Seven potential candidate sites in different parts of Europe and at several distances from CERN are being studied: Boulby (UK), Canfranc (Spain), Fr\'ejus (France/Italy), Pyh\"asalmi (Finland), Polkowice-Sieroszowice (Poland), Slanic (Romania) and Umbria (Italy). The design study aims at the comprehensive and coordinated technical assessment of each site, at a coherent cost estimation, and at a prioritization of the sites within the summer 2010.Comment: 5 pages, contribution to the Workshop "European Strategy for Future Neutrino Physics", CERN, Oct. 200

Africa and the global carbon cycle

The African continent has a large and growing role in the global carbon cycle, with potentially important climate change implications. However, the sparse observation network in and around the African continent means that Africa is one of the weakest links in our understanding of the global carbon cycle. Here, we combine data from regional and global inventories as well as forward and inverse model analyses to appraise what is known about Africa's continental-scale carbon dynamics. With low fossil emissions and productivity that largely compensates respiration, land conversion is Africa's primary net carbon release, much of it through burning of forests. Savanna fire emissions, though large, represent a short-term source that is offset by ensuing regrowth. While current data suggest a near zero decadal-scale carbon balance, interannual climate fluctuations (especially drought) induce sizeable variability in net ecosystem productivity and savanna fire emissions such that Africa is a major source of interannual variability in global atmospheric CO(2). Considering the continent's sizeable carbon stocks, their seemingly high vulnerability to anticipated climate and land use change, as well as growing populations and industrialization, Africa's carbon emissions and their interannual variability are likely to undergo substantial increases through the 21st century

Constraints on emissions of carbon monoxide, methane, and a suite of hydrocarbons in the Colorado Front Range using observations of ¹⁴CO₂

Atmospheric radiocarbon (14C) represents an important observational constraint on emissions of fossil-fuel derived carbon into the atmosphere due to the absence of 14C in fossil fuel reservoirs. The high sensitivity and precision that accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) affords in atmospheric 14C analysis has greatly increased the potential for using such measurements to evaluate bottom-up emissions inventories of fossil fuel CO2 (CO2ff), as well as those for other co-emitted species. Here we use observations of 14CO2 and a series of primary hydrocarbons and combustion tracers from discrete air samples collected between June 2009 and September 2010 at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO; Lat: 40.050° N, Lon: 105.004° W) to derive emission ratios of each species with respect to CO2ff. The BAO tower is situated at the boundary of the Denver metropolitan area to the south and a large industrial and agricultural region to the north and east, making it an ideal location to study the contrasting mix of emissions from the activities in each region. The species considered in this analysis are carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), acetylene (C2H2), benzene (C6H6), and C3–C5 alkanes. We estimate emissions for a subset of these species by using the Vulcan high resolution CO2ff emission data product as a reference. We find that CO is overestimated in the 2008 National Emissions Inventory (NEI08) by a factor of ~2. A close evaluation of the inventory suggests that the ratio of CO emitted per unit fuel burned from on-road gasoline vehicles is likely over-estimated by a factor of 2.5. Using a wind-directional analysis of the data, we find enhanced concentrations of CH4, relative to CO2ff, in air influenced by emissions to the north and east of the BAO tower when compared to air influenced by emissions in the Denver metro region to the south. Along with enhanced CH4, the strongest enhancements of the C3–C5 alkanes are also found in the north and east wind sector, suggesting that both the alkane and CH4 enhancements are sourced from oil and gas fields located to the northeast, though it was not possible to rule out the contribution of non oil and gas CH4 sources

The LAGUNA design study- towards giant liquid based underground detectors for neutrino physics and astrophysics and proton decay searches

The feasibility of a next generation neutrino observatory in Europe is being considered within the LAGUNA design study. To accommodate giant neutrino detectors and shield them from cosmic rays, a new very large underground infrastructure is required. Seven potential candidate sites in different parts of Europe and at several distances from CERN are being studied: Boulby (UK), Canfranc (Spain), Fréjus (France/Italy), Pyhásalmi (Finland), Polkowice-Sieroszowice (Poland), Slanic (Romania) and Umbria (Italy). The design study aims at the comprehensive and coordinated technical assessment of each site, at a coherent cost estimation, and at a prioritization of the sites within the summer 2010

The LAGUNA project: Towards the giant liquid based detectors for proton decay searches and for low energy neutrino astrophysics

A next generation European deep underground neutrino observatory is considered within the LAGUNA design study. Three detector options are presently considered: GLACIER liquid argon Time Projection Chamber; LENA liquid scintillator and MEMPHYS water Cherenkov. It will provide both: the high statistics measurement of neutrinos from variety of sources, and high sensitivity searches for matter instability. To accommodate such giant detectors a new underground laboratory is required. The LAGUNA design study considers the following seven candidate sites in Europe: Boulby (UK), Canfranc (Spain), Fréjus (France/Italy), Pyhäsalmi (Finland), Polkowice-Sieroszowice (Poland), Slanic (Romania) and Umbria (Italy). The three detection techniques and summary of the physics potential of proposed detectors are discussed in this short paper

Spousal Roles on Motivations for Entrepreneurship: A Qualitative Study in New Zealand

Co-founders, Entrepreneurs, Gender, Motivations, Spouse, Support,