Analysis of regolith electromagnetic scattering as constrained by high resolution Earth-based measurements of the lunar microwave emission

When high resolution measurements of the phase variation of the lunar disk center brightness temperature revealed that in situ regolith electrical losses were larger than those measured on returned samples by a factor of 1.5 to 2.0 at centimeter wavelengths, the need for a refinement of the regolith model to include realistic treatment of scattering effects was identified. Two distinct scattering regimes are considered: vertial variations in dielectric constant and volume scattering due to subsurface rock fragments. Models of lunar regolith energy transport processes are now at the state for which a maximum scientific return could be realized from a lunar orbiter microwave mapping experiment. A detailed analysis, including the effects of scattering produced a set of nominal brightness temperature spectra for lunar equatorial regions, which can be used for mapping as a calibration reference for mapping variations in mineralogy and heat flow

In-situ measurements of lunar heat flow

During the Apollo program two successful heat flow measurements were made in situ on the lunar surface. At the Apollo 15 site a value of .0000031 W/sq cm was measured, and at the Apollo 17 site a value of .0000022 W/sq cm was determined. Both measurements have uncertainty limits of + or - 20 percent and have been corrected for perturbing topographic effects. The apparent difference between the observations may correlate with observed variations in the surface abundance of thorium. Comparison with earlier determinations of heat flow, using the microwave emission spectrum from the moon, gives support to the high gradients and heat flows observed in situ

Water vapor radiometer measurements of the tropospheric delay fluctuations at Goldstone over a full year

One year of near-continuous water vapor radiometer (WVR) measurements at DSS 13 has provided a database for characterizing the Goldstone tropospheric delay properties in a statistical sense. The results have been expressed in terms of the Allan standard deviation of delay and compared to a previous model for Goldstone fluctuations and the specifications of the Cassini Gravitational Wave Experiment (GWE). The new WVR data indicate that average fluctuation levels at hour time scales or less are approximately 30 percent lower than the earlier Goldstone model predictions. At greater than 1 h time scales, the WVR indicated fluctuation levels are in closer agreement with the model, although noise floor limitations may be artificially raising the average WVR-derived atmospheric fluctuation levels at the longer time scales. When scaled to two-way Doppler tracking at 20 deg elevation, as will occur for the GWE, these results indicate that Goldstone winter tropospheric delay fluctuations will typically be a factor of 10 larger than the GWE requirements at 1000 s and a factor of 4 larger at 10,000 s

Ocean water vapor and cloud liquid water trends from 1992 to 2005 TOPEX Microwave Radiometer data

The continuous 1992–2005 data set of the TOPEX Microwave Radiometer (TMR) has been reprocessed to provide global, zonal, and regional scale histories of overocean integrated water vapor (IWV) and cloud liquid water (CLW). Results indicate well-defined trends in IWV on global and hemisphere scales, with values of 1.8 ± 0.4%/decade (60°S–60°N), 2.4 ± 0.4%/decade (0–60°N), and 1.0 ± 0.5%/decade (0–60°S). The uncertainties represent 1 standard deviation of the regressed slope parameter adjusted for lag 1 autocorrelation. These results are comparable to earlier results based on analyses of the multiinstrument SSM/I ocean measurements beginning in 1988. For the 1992–2005 interval, comparisons between SSM/I- and TMR-derived IWV trends show remarkable agreement, with global trends differing by less than 0.3%/decade, comparable to the statistical uncertainty level and about one-sixth of the global TMR-derived trend. Latitudinal and regional analyses of IWV trends show large variability about the global mean, with synoptic scale variations of IWV trends ranging from ∼−8 to +8%/decade. Averaged over 5° latitude bands the IWV trends reveal a near zero minimum in the Southern Tropical Pacific and maximum values of ∼4%/decade over the 30–40N latitude band. Comparisons with band latitude averaged SST data over the same 1992–2005 interval roughly match a delta_IWV/delta_SST trend scaling of ∼11%/K, consistent with previously observed tropical and midlatitude seasonal variability. TMR-derived CLW trends are fractionally comparable to the IWV trends. The CLW values are 1.5 ± 0.6%/decade (60°S–60°N), 2.0 ± 0.8%/decade (0–60°N), and 1.1 ± 0.8%/decade (0–60°S). When scaled to global mean CLW derived from SSM/I and compared seasonally, the TMR CLW variations exhibit excellent tracking with the SSM/I results. Unlike IWV, however, the CLW statistical uncertainties do not likely reflect the dominant error component in the retrieved trends. The 1992–2005 CLW trend estimates were particularly sensitive to short-term trends in the first and last 2 years of the TMR archive. Additional errors difficult to quantify include strong aliasing effects from precipitation cells and uncertainties in the radiative transfer models utilized in the generation of the TMR CLW algorithm

A test of water vapor radiometer-based troposphere calibration using VLBI observations on a 21-kilometer baseline

Simultaneous very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) and water vapor radiometer (WVR) measurements on a 21 km baseline showed that calibration by WVRs removed a significant fraction of the effect of tropospheric delay fluctuations for these experiments. From comparison of the residual delay variations within scans and between scans, the total tropospheric contribution t the delay residuals for each of the three 5 to 20 hour sessions was estimated as 1, 17, and 10%, with the first value being uncertain. The observed improvement in rms residual delay from WVR calibration during these three sessions was 4, 16, and 2%, respectively. The improvement is consistent with the estimated 2 to 3 mm path delay precision of current WVRs. The VLBI measurements, of natural radio sources, were conducted in April and May 1993 at Goldstone, California. Dual-frequency (2.3 and 8.4 GHz) observations were employed to remove the effects of charged particles from the data. Measurements with co-pointed WVRs, located within 50 m of the axis of each antenna, were performed to test the ability of the WVRs to calibrate line-of-sight path delays. Factors that made WVR performance assessment difficult included (1) the fact that the level of tropospheric fluctuations was smaller than is typical for Goldstone during these experiments and (2) VLBI delay variations on longer time scales (i.e., over multiple scans) contained uncalibrated instrumental effects (probably a result of slow temperature variations in the VLBI hardware) that were larger than the tropospheric effects

Relocation of Advanced Water Vapor Radiometer 1 to Deep Space Station 55

In June of 2004, the Advanced Water Vapor Radiometer (AWVR) unit no. 1 was relocated to the Deep Space Station (DSS) 55 site in Madrid, Spain, from DSS 25 in Goldstone, California. This article summarizes the relocation activity and the subsequent operation and data acquisition. This activity also relocated the associated Microwave Temperature Profiler (MTP) and Surface Meteorology (SurfMET) package that collectively comprise the Cassini Media Calibration System (MCS)

Observing the variation of asteroid thermal inertia with heliocentric distance

Thermal inertia is a useful property to characterise a planetary surface since it can be used as a qualitative measure of the regolith grain size. It is expected to vary with heliocentric distance because of its dependence on temperature. However, no previous investigation has conclusively observed a change in thermal inertia for any given planetary body. We have addressed this by using NEOWISE data and the Advanced Thermophysical Model to study the thermophysical properties of the near-Earth asteroids (1036) Ganymed, (1580) Betulia, and (276049) 2002 CE26 as they moved around their highly eccentric orbits. We confirm that the thermal inertia values of Ganymed and 2002 CE26 do vary with heliocentric distance, although the degree of variation observed depends on the spectral emissivity assumed in the thermophysical modelling. We also confirm that the thermal inertia of Betulia did not change for three different observations obtained at the same heliocentric distance. Depending on the spectral emissivity, the variations for Ganymed and 2002 CE26 are potentially more extreme than that implied by theoretical models of heat transfer within asteroidal regoliths, which might be explained by asteroids having thermal properties that also vary with depth. Accounting for this variation reduces a previously observed trend of decreasing asteroid thermal inertia with increasing size, and suggests that the surfaces of small and large asteroids could be much more similar than previously thought. Furthermore, this variation can affect Yarkovsky orbital drift predictions by a few tens of per cent

Improved spacecraft radio science using an on-board atomic clock: application to gravitational wave searches

Recent advances in space-qualified atomic clocks (low-mass, low power-consumption, frequency stability comparable to that of ground-based clocks) can enable interplanetary spacecraft radio science experiments at unprecedented Doppler sensitivities. The addition of an on-board digital receiver would allow the up- and down-link Doppler frequencies to be measured separately. Such separate, high-quality measurements allow optimal data combinations that suppress the currently-leading noise sources: phase scintillation noise from the Earth's atmosphere and Doppler noise caused by mechanical vibrations of the ground antenna. Here we provide a general expression for the optimal combination of ground and on-board Doppler data and compute the sensitivity such a system would have to low-frequency gravitational waves (GWs). Assuming a plasma scintillation noise calibration comparable to that already demonstrated with the multi-link CASSINI radio system, the space-clock/digital-receiver instrumentation enhancements would give GW strain sensitivity of $2.0 \times 10^{-17}$ for randomly polarized, monochromatic GW signals over a two-decade ($\sim0.0001-0.01$ Hz) region of the low-frequency band. This is about an order of magnitude better than currently achieved with traditional two-way coherent Doppler experiments. The utility of optimally combining simultaneous up- and down-link observations is not limited to GW searches. The Doppler tracking technique discussed here could be performed at minimal incremental cost to also improve other radio science experiments (i.e. tests of relativistic gravity, planetary and satellite gravity field measurements, atmospheric and ring occultations) on future interplanetary missions.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Accurate Galactic 21-cm H I measurements with the NRAO Green Bank Telescope

Aims: We devise a data reduction and calibration system for producing highly-accurate 21-cm H I spectra from the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) of the NRAO. Methods: A theoretical analysis of the all-sky response of the GBT at 21 cm is made, augmented by extensive maps of the far sidelobes. Observations of radio sources and the Moon are made to check the resulting aperture and main beam efficiencies. Results: The all-sky model made for the response of the GBT at 21 cm is used to correct for "stray" 21-cm radiation reaching the receiver through the sidelobes rather than the main beam. This reduces systematic errors in 21-cm measurements by about an order of magnitude, allowing accurate 21-cm H I spectra to be made at about 9' angular resolution with the GBT. At this resolution the procedures discussed here allow for measurement of total integrated Galactic H I line emission, W, with errors of 3 K km s^-1, equivalent to errors in optically thin N_HI of 5 x 10^18 cm^-2.Comment: 49 pages, 25 figures; A&A, in pres

The White Mountain Polarimeter Telescope and an Upper Limit on CMB Polarization

The White Mountain Polarimeter (WMPol) is a dedicated ground-based microwave telescope and receiver system for observing polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background. WMPol is located at an altitude of 3880 meters on a plateau in the White Mountains of Eastern California, USA, at the Barcroft Facility of the University of California White Mountain Research Station. Presented here is a description of the instrument and the data collected during April through October 2004. We set an upper limit on $E$-mode polarization of 14 $\mu\mathrm{K}$ (95% confidence limit) in the multipole range $170<\ell<240$. This result was obtained with 422 hours of observations of a 3 $\mathrm{deg}^2$ sky area about the North Celestial Pole, using a 42 GHz polarimeter. This upper limit is consistent with $EE$ polarization predicted from a standard $\Lambda$-CDM concordance model.Comment: 35 pages. 12 figures. To appear in ApJ