Vertical variation of optical properties of mixed Asian dust/pollution plumes according to pathway of air mass transport over East Asia

© Author(s) 2015. This is an Open Access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/We use five years (2009-2013) of multiwavelength Raman lidar measurements at Gwangju, South Korea (35.10° N, 126.53° E) for the identification of changes of optical properties of East Asian dust depending on its transport path over China. Profiles of backscatter and extinction coefficients, lidar ratios, and backscatter-related Ångström exponents (wavelength pair 355/532 nm) were measured at Gwangju. Linear particle depolarization ratios were used to identify East Asian dust layers. We used backward trajectory modeling to identify the pathway and the vertical position of dust-laden air masses over China during long-range transport. Most cases of Asian dust events can be described by the emission of dust in desert areas and subsequent transport over highly polluted regions of China. The Asian dust plumes could be categorized into two classes according to the height above ground at which these plumes were transported: (case I) the dust layers passed over China at high altitude levels (> 3 km) until arrival over Gwangju, and (case II) the Asian dust layers were transported near the surface and within the lower troposphere (< 3 km) over industrialized areas before they arrived over Gwangju. We find that the optical characteristics of these mixed Asian dust layers over Gwangju differ depending on their vertical position above ground over China and the change of height above ground during transport. The mean linear particle depolarization ratio was 0.21 ± 0.06 (at 532 nm), the mean lidar ratios were 52 ± 7 sr at 355 nm and 53 ± 8 sr at 532 nm, and the mean Ångström exponent was 0.74 ± 0.31 for case I. In contrast, plumes transported at lower altitudes (case II) showed low depolarization ratios (0.13 ± 0.04 at 532 nm), and higher lidar ratio (63 ± 9 sr at 355 nm and 62 ± 8 sr at 532 nm) and Ångström exponents (0.98 ± 0.51). These numbers show that the optical characteristics of mixed Asian plumes are more similar to optical characteristics of urban pollution. We find a decrease of the linear depolarization ratio of the mixed dust/pollution plume depending on transport time if the pollution layer traveled over China at low heights, i.e., below approximately 3 km above ground. In contrast, we do not find such a trend if the dust plumes traveled at heights above 3 km over China. We need a longer time series of lidar measurements in order to determine in a quantitative way the change of optical properties of dust with transport time.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Neuronal glucose transporter isoform 3 deficient mice demonstrate features of autism spectrum disorders.

Neuronal glucose transporter (GLUT) isoform 3 deficiency in null heterozygous mice led to abnormal spatial learning and working memory but normal acquisition and retrieval during contextual conditioning, abnormal cognitive flexibility with intact gross motor ability, electroencephalographic seizures, perturbed social behavior with reduced vocalization and stereotypies at low frequency. This phenotypic expression is unique as it combines the neurobehavioral with the epileptiform characteristics of autism spectrum disorders. This clinical presentation occurred despite metabolic adaptations consisting of an increase in microvascular/glial GLUT1, neuronal GLUT8 and monocarboxylate transporter isoform 2 concentrations, with minimal to no change in brain glucose uptake but an increase in lactate uptake. Neuron-specific glucose deficiency has a negative impact on neurodevelopment interfering with functional competence. This is the first description of GLUT3 deficiency that forms a possible novel genetic mechanism for pervasive developmental disorders, such as the neuropsychiatric autism spectrum disorders, requiring further investigation in humans

Numerical simulation of super-square patterns in Faraday waves

We report the first simulations of the Faraday instability using the full three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in domains much larger than the characteristic wavelength of the pattern. We use a massively parallel code based on a hybrid Front-Tracking/Level-set algorithm for Lagrangian tracking of arbitrarily deformable phase interfaces. Simulations performed in rectangular and cylindrical domains yield complex patterns. In particular, a superlattice-like pattern similar to those of [Douady & Fauve, Europhys. Lett. 6, 221-226 (1988); Douady, J. Fluid Mech. 221, 383-409 (1990)] is observed. The pattern consists of the superposition of two square superlattices. We conjecture that such patterns are widespread if the square container is large compared to the critical wavelength. In the cylinder, pentagonal cells near the outer wall allow a square-wave pattern to be accommodated in the center

Recent developments in the dynamical and unitary isobar models for pion electromagnetic production

gamma N->Delta transition form factors and threshold pi^0 photo- and electroproduction are studied with the new version of MAID and a dynamical model. By re-analyzing the recent Jlab data on p(e,e'p) pi^0 at Q^2 = 2.8 and 4.0 (GeV/c)^2, we find that the hadronic helicity conservation is not yet observed in this region of Q^2. The extracted R_{EM}, starting from a small and negative value at the real photon point, actually exhibits a clear tendency to cross zero and change sign as Q^2 increases, while the absolute value of R_{SM} is strongly increasing. Our analysis indicates that A_{1/2} and S_{1/2}, but not A_{3/2}, starts exhibiting the pQCD scaling behavior at about Q^2 = 2.5 (GeV/c)^2. For the pi^0 photo- and electroproduction near threshold, results obtained within the dynamical model with the use of a meson-exchange pi N model for the final state interaction are in as good agreement with the data as ChPT.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, talk given at the NSTAR2001 Workshop, Mainz, Germany, March 7-10, 200

Technical note: Absorption aerosol optical depth components from AERONET observations of mixed dust plumes

© Author(s) 2019.Absorption aerosol optical depth (AAOD) as obtained from sun–sky photometer measurements provides a measure of the light-absorbing properties of the columnar aerosol loading. However, it is not an unambiguous aerosol-type-specific parameter, particularly if several types of absorbing aerosols, for instance black carbon (BC) and mineral dust, are present in a mixed aerosol plume. The contribution of mineral dust to total aerosol light absorption is particularly important at UV wavelengths. In this study we refine a lidar-based technique applied to the separation of dust and non-dust aerosol types for the use with Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) direct sun and inversion products. We extend the methodology to retrieve AAOD related to non-dust aerosol (AAODnd) and BC (AAODBC). We test the method at selected AERONET sites that are frequently affected by aerosol plumes that contain a mixture of Saharan or Asian mineral dust and biomass-burning smoke or anthropogenic pollution, respectively. We find that aerosol optical depth (AOD) related to mineral dust as obtained with our methodology is frequently smaller than coarse-mode AOD. This suggests that the latter is not an ideal proxy for estimating the contribution of mineral dust to mixed dust plumes. We present the results of the AAODBC retrieval for the selected AERONET sites and compare them to coincident values provided in the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring System aerosol reanalysis.We find that modelled and AERONET AAODBC are most consistent for Asian sites or at Saharan sites with strong local anthropogenic sources.Peer reviewe