Observations of Solar Cyclical Variations in Geocoronal Hα Column Emission Intensities

Observations of thermospheric + exospheric Hα column emissions by the Wisconsin Hα Mapper (WHAM) Fabry-Perot (Kitt Peak, Arizona) over the 1997–2001 rise in solar cycle 23 show a statistically significant solar cyclical variation. The higher signal-to-noise WHAM observations corroborate suggestions of a solar cycle trend in the Hα emissions seen in Wisconsin observations over solar cycle 22. Here we compare WHAM 1997 and 2000–2001 winter solstice geocoronal Hα observations toward regions of the sky with low galactic emission. The observed variation in geocoronal hydrogen column emission intensities over the solar cycle is small compared with variations in hydrogen exobase densities. Higher Hα emissions are seen during solar maximum periods of the solar cycle. At a mid range shadow altitude (3000 km), WHAM geocoronal Hα intensities are about 45% higher during solar maximum than during solar minimum

Stochastic resonance as a collective property of ion channel assemblies

By use of a stochastic generalization of the Hodgkin-Huxley model we investigate both the phenomena of stochastic resonance (SR) and coherence resonance (CR) in variable size patches of an excitable cell membrane. Our focus is on the challenge how internal noise stemming from individual ion channels does affect collective properties of the whole ensemble. We investigate both an unperturbed situation with no applied stimuli and one in which the membrane is stimulated externally by a periodic signal and additional external noise. For the nondriven case, we demonstrate the existence of an optimal size of the membrane patch for which the internal noise causes a most regular spike activity. This phenomenon shall be termed intrinsic CR. In presence of an applied periodic stimulus we demonstrate that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) exhibits SR vs. decreasing patch size, or vs. increasing internal noise strength, respectively. Moreover, we demonstrate that conventional SR vs. the external noise intensity occurs only for sufficiently large membrane patches, when the intensity of internal noise is below its optimal level. Thus, biological SR seemingly is rooted in the collective properties of large ion channel ensembles rather than in the individual stochastic dynamics of single ion channels.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure

Geocoronal Hydrogen Studies Using Fabry-Perot Interferometers

Ground based Fabry-Perot observations of solar excited geocoronal hydrogen fluorescence emissions are one of the primary means of studying the neutral upper atmosphere [Atreya et al., 1975; Meriwether et al., 1980; Yelle and Roesler, 1985; Shih et al., 1985; Kerr et al., 2001a,b; He et al., 1993; Nossal et al., 1993, 1998, 2004; Bishop et al., 2001; Mierkiewicz, 2002; and references therein]. Excellent reviews of early ground-based geocoronal Balmer α observations are found in: Krassovsky et al. [1966], Krassovsky [1971], Donahue [1964, 1966], Tinsley [1974], Fahr and Shizgal [1983] and Kerr et al. [2001a]. Instruments onboard satellites and rockets also observe the geocorona, but these observations will not be the focus of this paper, except in terms of collaboration with ground based passive optical instruments (see e.g., Bishop et al. [2004]). The tenuous uppermost reach of the earth’s neutral atmosphere is commonly referred to as the exosphere or geocorona. For an overviews of the geocorona with a historical perspective, see e.g., Chamberlain [1963], Tinsley [1974], Donahue [1977]. The exosphere is a unique region of the atmosphere characterized by low densities, long mean free paths, and non-Maxwellian orbital dynamics. In addition to its interesting physics, geocoronal hydrogen is important because of its involvement in many upper atmospheric chemical, photolysis, and charge exchange reactions. Geocoronal hydrogen is the by-product of lower and middle atmospheric hydrogenous species chemistry below involving radiatively important species such as methane and water vapor. As such, observations of thermospheric+exospheric hydrogen offer the potential as verification of the representation by atmospheric models of vertical coupling in hydrogenous species chemistry and as a possible upper atmospheric footprint of global change. Understanding of sources of natural variability such as the influence of the solar cycle is needed to characterize this region and to isolate signatures of natural variability from those due to human caused change

Geocoronal Hydrogen Observations Spanning Three Solar Minima

The 11-year solar cycle is a dominant source of natural variability in the upper atmosphere, and its effect on atomic hydrogen distributions and emissions must be understood to investigate possible signs of longer-term climatic trends in this region. We present midlatitude geocoronal hydrogen Balmer α observations from solar cycle 23 (1997–2006) and three solar minimum periods, 1985, 1997, and 2006. The 1997 through 2006 observations were taken with the Wisconsin H-αMapper Fabry-Perot (WHAM), a ground-based CCD-annular summing instrument that began observations at the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona in 1997. The 1985 observations were made with a similarly designed “pre-WHAM” Fabry-Perot Interferometer utilizing photomultiplier detection and located in Wisconsin. WHAM has consistently observed higher column emission intensities during solar maximum periods than during solar minimum conditions, with the ratio dependent upon the viewing geometry. The observations from three solar minimum periods agree to within 18% uncertainties over most of the shadow altitude range. An analysis of recent Fabry-Perot observations of upper atmospheric hydrogen during solar cycle 23 and during three solar minima (1985, 1997, 2006) established a reference data set of highly precise, consistently calibrated, thermospheric plus exospheric hydrogen column emission observations from northern midlatitudes that can be used to compare with future observations

Tilt Texture Domains on a Membrane and Chirality induced Budding

We study the equilibrium conformations of a lipid domain on a planar fluid membrane where the domain is decorated by a vector field representing the tilt of the stiff fatty acid chains of the lipid molecules, while the surrounding membrane is fluid and structureless. The inclusion of chirality in the bulk of the domain induces a novel budding of the membrane, which preempts the budding induced by a decrease in interfacial tension.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Geocoronal H-A [Alpha] Intensity Measurements Using the Wisconsin H-A [Alpha] Mapper Fabry-Perot Facility

The Wisconsin H-a [alpha] Mapper (WHAM), a remotely operable, semi-automated Fabry-Perot located at Kitt Peak Observatory, has been making an all-sky survey of interstellar hydrogen Balmer a [alpha] (H-a [alpha]) emissions since 1997. Using the annular summing spectroscopy technique, WHAM has acquired ~[approx.] 37,000 spectra to date, spanning almost 100 nights of observations. Since all of the galactic emission spectral data contain the terrestrial H-a [alpha] (6562.7 Å) emission line, these measurements constitute a rich source of geocoronal data for investigating natural variability in the upper atmosphere. The WHAM observations also serve as a benchmark for comparison with future data. Analysis of the first year of WHAM data shows only small day-to-day variations after shadow altitude variations are taken into account. For example, at shadow altitudes of 2000 and 3000 km, the RMS scatter is within approximately +/- 20%; this variability is expected to be reduced with accurate accounting of the smaller-scale effects of observational slant path, zenith angle, and azimuth on the H-a [alpha] intensity. This result is consistent with past midlatitude Wisconsin data sets but different from observations made by other observers and instruments at the low-latitude Arecibo site. The multiple viewing geometries of the observations provide stringent modeling constraints, useful in testing current modeling capabilities. Modeling of the WHAM data with a global nonisothermal resonance radiation transport code (lyao_rt) indicates that the signal-to-noise of the data is sufficient to determine relative variations in upper atmospheric atomic hydrogen column densities to better than 5%. This paper describes the WHAM aeronomy program and its observational scheme, analysis procedures, and results from data taken in 1997. Case study comparisons are made with past data sets and with predictions from the lyao_rt resonant radiation transport modeling code of Bishop [1999]

Capacitance fluctuations causing channel noise reduction in stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley systems

Voltage-dependent ion channels determine the electric properties of axonal cell membranes. They not only allow the passage of ions through the cell membrane but also contribute to an additional charging of the cell membrane resulting in the so-called capacitance loading. The switching of the channel gates between an open and a closed configuration is intrinsically related to the movement of gating charge within the cell membrane. At the beginning of an action potential the transient gating current is opposite to the direction of the current of sodium ions through the membrane. Therefore, the excitability is expected to become reduced due to the influence of a gating current. Our stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley like modeling takes into account both the channel noise -- i.e. the fluctuations of the number of open ion channels -- and the capacitance fluctuations that result from the dynamics of the gating charge. We investigate the spiking dynamics of membrane patches of variable size and analyze the statistics of the spontaneous spiking. As a main result, we find that the gating currents yield a drastic reduction of the spontaneous spiking rate for sufficiently large ion channel clusters. Consequently, this demonstrates a prominent mechanism for channel noise reduction.Comment: 18 page

Aggregation Patterns in Stressed Bacteria

We study the formation of spot patterns seen in a variety of bacterial species when the bacteria are subjected to oxidative stress due to hazardous byproducts of respiration. Our approach consists of coupling the cell density field to a chemoattractant concentration as well as to nutrient and waste fields. The latter serves as a triggering field for emission of chemoattractant. Important elements in the proposed model include the propagation of a front of motile bacteria radially outward form an initial site, a Turing instability of the uniformly dense state and a reduction of motility for cells sufficiently far behind the front. The wide variety of patterns seen in the experiments is explained as being due the variation of the details of the initiation of the chemoattractant emission as well as the transition to a non-motile phase.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX with 4 postscript figures (uuencoded) Figures 1a and 1b are available from the authors; paper submitted to PRL

Nonequilibrium steady states in a vibrated-rod monolayer: tetratic, nematic and smectic correlations

We study experimentally the nonequilibrium phase behaviour of a horizontal monolayer of macroscopic rods. The motion of the rods in two dimensions is driven by vibrations in the vertical direction. Aside from the control variables of packing fraction and aspect ratio that are typically explored in molecular liquid crystalline systems, due to the macroscopic size of the particles we are also able to investigate the effect of the precise shape of the particle on the steady states of this driven system. We find that the shape plays an important role in determining the nature of the orientational ordering at high packing fraction. Cylindrical particles show substantial tetratic correlations over a range of aspect ratios where spherocylinders have previously been shown by Bates et al (JCP 112, 10034 (2000)) to undergo transitions between isotropic and nematic phases. Particles that are thinner at the ends (rolling pins or bails) show nematic ordering over the same range of aspect ratios, with a well-established nematic phase at large aspect ratio and a defect-ridden nematic state with large-scale swirling motion at small aspect ratios. Finally, long-grain, basmati rice, whose geometry is intermediate between the two shapes above, shows phases with strong indications of smectic order.Comment: 18 pages and 13 eps figures, references adde