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At least 37 records · Page 2

Dust-planetary boundary layer interactions amplified by entrainment and advections

Mineral dust contributes to more than half of the global aerosol loading. However, the radiative impacts of dust aerosols on planetary boundary layer (PBL) structure have not been explored sufficiently. During a typical dust storm event over Tarim Basin, dust aerosols exhibit a well-mixed distribution during the daytime in spite of a shallow layer of dust particles accumulated at higher altitudes. By contrast, nocturnal dust plumes are located near the surface due to stable stratification. We demonstrate that these differentiated vertical distributions determine the spatial heterogeneity of dust loading, radiative fluxes and PBL height variations. Dust aerosols cause daytime PBL suppression and nighttime PBL promotion through modulating surface and atmospheric radiative budgets. Specifically, dust-induced cooling effect within PBL directly inhibits the daytime PBL development. PBL suppression effect is then amplified by entrainment processes resulting in excessively low PBL height, especially for dust particles below but near the PBL top. Dust plumes weaken updrafts from PBL and downdrafts of the free atmosphere, which further reduce the entrainment mixing through attenuating horizontal and vertical advection, and eventually amplify PBL suppression. At night, near-surface dust aerosols stimulate a warm and unstable lower atmosphere, generate warm advection heating and promote the PBL development. Our study highlights the importance of specifying entrainment parameters and nighttime advection activities in quantifying the dust-PBL interactions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Extending quantum key distribution through proxy re-encryption

Modern quantum key distribution (QKD) network designs are based on sending photons from one node to another and require free-space or dedicated fiber optic cables between nodes. The purpose of this is to co-generate secret key material on both sides of the quantum channel. In addition to this quantum link, there are several insecure classical channels that allow QKD algorithms to exchange book-keeping information and send symmetrically encrypted data. The attenuation of photons transmitted through fiber becomes too high to practically generate key material over fiber at distances of more than 100 km. Free-space transmission through the atmosphere or the vacuum of space can reduce attenuation, but at the cost of system complexity and sensitivity to other impairments, such as weather. To extend the effective range of QKD networks, we present a method that combines QKD algorithms with post-quantum, homomorphic key-switching to allow multiple parties to effectively share secret key material over longer distances through semi-trusted relay nodes. We define how such a system should work for arbitrary network topologies and provide proofs that our scheme is both correct and secure. We assess the feasibility of this solution by building and evaluating two implementations based on lattice-based cryptography: learning with errors.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Role of the Terrestrial Biosphere in Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate

The terrestrial biosphere–atmosphere interface provides a key chemical, biological, and physical lower boundary for the atmosphere. The presence of vegetation itself modifies the physical boundary, or the biogeophysical aspects of the system, by controlling important climate drivers such as soil moisture, light environment, and temperature. The leaf surface area of the terrestrial biosphere provides additional surface area for emissions, and it can be up to 55% of the total Earth’s surface area during the boreal summer. Vegetation also influences the biogeochemical aspects of the system by emitting a broad suite of reactive trace gases such as biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions and climate-relevant primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP). Many of these emissions are a function of meteorological and climatological conditions at the surface, including temperature, light environment, soil moisture, and winds. Once emitted, they can be processed in the troposphere through a suite of chemical reactions. BVOC can contribute to the formation of ozone and secondary organic aerosols (SOA), and PBAP can rupture to form smaller particles with climatic relevance. These emissions and subsequent aerosol products can influence atmospheric processes that affect the surface climate, such as the attenuation of radiation, the formation of greenhouse gases such as ozone that can feedback to surface air temperature, and the alteration of clouds and subsequent precipitation. These atmospheric changes can then feedback to the land surface and emissions themselves, creating positive or negative feedback loops that can dampen or amplify the emission response. For the dominant BVOC isoprene, the feedback response to temperature can be positive or negative depending on ambient temperatures that drive isoprene emissions. The feedback response to soil moisture and precipitation can be positive, negative, or uncoupled depending on the moisture content of the soil and the total atmospheric aerosol loading. For light, the isoprene response can be positive or negative depending on the role of diffuse light. Overall, these feedbacks highlight the dynamical response of the biosphere to changing atmospheric conditions across a range of time scales, from minutes for trace gases and aerosols, to months for phenological changes, to years for land cover and land use change. Here, the dynamic aspect of this system requires us to understand, simulate, and predict the complex feedbacks between the biosphere and atmosphere and understand their role in the simulation and understanding of climate and global change. From the observational perspective, these feedbacks are challenging to identify in observations, and predictive modeling tools provide a crucial link for understanding how these feedbacks will change under warming climate scenarios.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Enhanced Carbon Flux Response to Atmospheric Aridity and Water Storage Deficit During the 2015–2016 El Niño Compromised Carbon Balance Recovery in Tropical South America

During the 2015–2016 El Niño, the Amazon basin released almost one gigaton of carbon (GtC) into the atmosphere due to extreme temperatures and drought. The link between the drought impact and recovery of the total carbon pools and its biogeochemical drivers is still unknown. With satellite-constrained net carbon exchange and its component fluxes including gross primary production and fire emissions, we show that the total carbon loss caused by the 2015–2016 El Niño had not recovered by the end of 2018. Forest ecosystems over the Northeastern (NE) Amazon suffered a cumulative total carbon loss of ~0.6 GtC through December 2018, driven primarily by a suppression of photosynthesis whereas southeastern savannah carbon loss was driven in part by fire. We attribute the slow recovery to the unexpected large carbon loss caused by the severe atmospheric aridity coupled with a water storage deficit during drought. We show the attenuation of carbon uptake is three times higher than expected from the pre-drought sensitivity to atmospheric aridity and ground water supply. Our study fills an important knowledge gap in our understanding of the unexpectedly enhanced response of carbon fluxes to atmospheric aridity and water storage deficit and its impact on regional post-drought recovery as a function of the vegetation types and climate perturbations. Our results suggest that the disproportionate impact of water supply and demand could compromise resiliency of the Amazonian carbon balance to future increases in extreme events.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

A Unified Interpretation of Variability in Precipitation Isotope Ratios

Abstract Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain why the isotope ratios of precipitation vary in space and time and why they correlate with other climate variables like temperature and precipitation. Here, we argue that this behavior is best understood through the lens of radiative transfer, which treats the depletion of atmospheric vapor transport by precipitation as analogous to the attenuation of light by absorption or scattering. Building on earlier work by Siler et al., we introduce a simple model that uses the equations of radiative transfer to approximate the two-dimensional pattern of the oxygen isotope composition of precipitation ( δ p ) from monthly mean hydrologic variables. The model accurately simulates the spatial and seasonal variability in δ p within a state-of-the-art climate model and permits a simple decomposition of δ p variability into contributions from gradients in evaporation and the length scale of vapor transport. Outside the tropics, δ p is mostly controlled by gradients in evaporation, whose dependence on temperature explains the positive correlation between δ p and temperature (i.e., the temperature effect). At low latitudes, δ p is mostly controlled by gradients in the transport length scale, whose inverse relationship with precipitation explains the negative correlation between δ p and precipitation (i.e., the amount effect). This suggests that the temperature and amount effects are both mostly explained by the variability in upstream rainout, but they reflect distinct mechanisms governing rainout at different latitudes. Significance Statement The isotopic composition of precipitation has long been used to make inferences about past climates based on its observed relationship with precipitation in the tropics and with temperature at higher latitudes. These relationships—known as the “amount effect” and “temperature effect,” respectively—have been attributed to many different mechanisms, most of which are thought to operate at either high or low latitudes but not both. Here, we present a unified framework for interpreting the isotope variability that can explain the latitude dependence of the temperature and amount effects despite making no distinction between high and low latitudes. Although our results are generally consistent with certain interpretations of the amount effect, they suggest that the temperature effect is widely misunderstood.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Wet-radome attenuation in ARM cloud radars and its utilization in radar calibration using disdrometer measurements

Abstract. A relative calibration technique has been developed for the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility Ka-band ARM Zenith Radars (KAZRs). This method uses the signal attenuation caused by water on the radome to estimate reflectivity factor (Ze) offsets. The wet-radome attenuation (WRA) is assumed to follow a log-linear relationship with rainfall rate during light and moderate rain, as measured by a collocated surface disdrometer. The technique has an uncertainty of approximately 3 dB, due to factors such as disdrometer measurement error, rain variability between radar and disdrometer sample volumes, and the fitting function's uncertainty for the WRA behavior. A practical advantage of this WRA-based approach to shorter-wavelength radar monitoring is that, while it requires a reference disdrometer, it proves feasible for a wider range of collocated disdrometer measurements compared to traditional direct disdrometer comparison at the onset of light rain. This technique thus offers a cost-effective monitoring tool for remote or long-term radar deployments. This calibration technique was applied during the ARM Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions Experiment (TRACER) from October 2021 through September 2022. The estimated Ze offsets were compared against traditional radar calibration and monitoring methods using available datasets from this campaign. Results show that the WRA-based offsets align closely with mean offsets found between cloud radars and from direct disdrometer comparison near the onset of rain, while also reflecting similar offset and campaign-long trends when compared to collocated, independently calibrated radar wind profilers. Nevertheless, overall, the KAZR Ze offsets estimated during TRACER remained stable at approximately 2 dB lower than the disdrometer estimates from the campaign start until the end of June 2022; afterward, the offsets increased to around 7 dB by the campaign's end. This increase is linked to a drop of about 1 dB in transmitter power toward the end of the project.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

In situ recording of Mars soundscape

Abstract Before the Perseverance rover landing, the acoustic environment of Mars was unknown. Models predicted that: (1) atmospheric turbulence changes at centimetre scales or smaller at the point where molecular viscosity converts kinetic energy into heat 1 , (2) the speed of sound varies at the surface with frequency 2,3 and (3) high-frequency waves are strongly attenuated with distance in CO 2 (refs. 2–4 ). However, theoretical models were uncertain because of a lack of experimental data at low pressure and the difficulty to characterize turbulence or attenuation in a closed environment. Here, using Perseverance microphone recordings, we present the first characterization of the acoustic environment on Mars and pressure fluctuations in the audible range and beyond, from 20 Hz to 50 kHz. We find that atmospheric sounds extend measurements of pressure variations down to 1,000 times smaller scales than ever observed before, showing a dissipative regime extending over five orders of magnitude in energy. Using point sources of sound (Ingenuity rotorcraft, laser-induced sparks), we highlight two distinct values for the speed of sound that are about 10 m s −1 apart below and above 240 Hz, a unique characteristic of low-pressure CO 2 -dominated atmosphere. We also provide the acoustic attenuation with distance above 2 kHz, allowing us to explain the large contribution of the CO 2 vibrational relaxation in the audible range. These results establish a ground truth for the modelling of acoustic processes, which is critical for studies in atmospheres such as those of Mars and Venus.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Shock physics and shadowgraphic measurements of laser-produced cerium plasmas

Shadowgraphic measurements are combined with theory on gas-dynamics to investigate the shock physics associated with nanosecond laser ablation of cerium metal targets. Time-resolved shadowgraphic imaging is performed to measure the propagation and attenuation of the laser-induced shockwave through air and argon atmospheres at various background pressures, where stronger shockwaves characterized by higher propagation velocities are observed for higher ablation laser irradiances and lower pressures. The Rankine-Hugoniot relations are also employed to estimate the pressure, temperature, density, and flow velocity of the shock-heated gas located immediately behind the shock front, predicting larger pressure ratios and higher temperatures for stronger laser-induced shockwaves.

42 ENGINEERING↗

A Laboratory Comparison of a Nephelometer and the Cavity-Attenuated Phase Shift Instrument (CAPS)

The interaction of incoming solar radiation (light) with particulate matter in the atmosphere impacts Earth’s radiation budget and thus is of great importance to climate and climate change. This particulate matter consists of particles, an aerosol referring to the ensemble of these particles. All particles scatter incoming solar radiation, sending some of it back to space and providing a cooling influence on the climate. Some particles additionally absorb incoming solar radiation, causing the particle, and the surrounding atmosphere, to heat, and thus altering atmospheric stability and evaporating water and other substances in the particles, which in turn affect the scattering and absorption of light by the particle.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

dlppi2 (b1)

The Doppler lidar (DL) is an active remote-sensing instrument that provides range- and time-resolved measurements of the line-of-sight component of air velocity (i.e., radial velocity) and attenuated aerosol backscatter. The DL operates in the near-infrared and is sensitive to backscatter from atmospheric aerosol, which are assumed to be ideal tracers of atmospheric wind fields. The DL works by transmitting short pulses of infrared laser light into the atmosphere. Atmospheric aerosols scatter a small fraction of that light energy back to the transceiver, where it is collected and recorded as a time-resolved signal. From the delay between the outgoing pulse and the backscattered signal, the instrument infers the distance to the scattering volume. Coherent detection is used to measure the Doppler frequency shift of the backscatter signal. This is accomplished by mixing the backscatter signal with a reference laser beam (i.e., local oscillator) of known frequency. The onboard signal processor then determines the Doppler frequency shift from the spectrum of the mixed signal. The Doppler frequency shift and thus the radial air velocity is determined from the peak of the Doppler spectrum. The attenuated backscatter is determined from the energy content of the Doppler spectra. The DL provides accurate measurements of radial velocity in regions of the atmosphere where aerosol concentrations are high enough to ensure good signal-to-noise ratio. Thus, valid data are usually limited to the atmospheric boundary layer where aerosol is ubiquitous. Valid measurements can also be obtained in elevated aerosol layers or in optically thin clouds above the boundary layer. Most of the ARM DLs have full upper-hemispheric scanning capability, enabling 3D mapping of turbulent flows in the atmospheric boundary layer. With the scanner pointed vertically, the DL provides height- and time-resolved measurements of vertical velocity.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Earthquake detection in a simulated lunar regolith using distributed acoustic sensing

Current models of inner lunar geology have largely been inferred from the seismic experiments and observations performed during the Apollo missions that comprised a relatively small number of seismic instruments. Refining constraints on fundamental lunar relationships such as crust-mantle and mantle-core boundaries in the future will require seismic arrays spanning larger epicentral distances. A promising technology for installing dense seismic arrays with minimal human effort is distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), an approach that allows a single length of fiber optic cable to act as hundreds or thousands of sensors when coupled with a DAS interrogator. While terrestrial uses of DAS technology for seismic monitoring rely on burying the cable to maximize fidelity of seismic signal transmission to the fiber, digging meters of trench to bury optical fiber on lunar or planetary surfaces is logistically infeasible. To evaluate DAS signal attenuation due to surface deployment of cable in lunar regolith, we completed earthquake detection analyses that evaluated the sensitivity of an optic-fiber DAS system to seismic signals at different burial depths. We deployed a single-mode fiber in a 10-m open-bottom wooden box filled with a lunar regolith simulant (LRS) with fiber buried at different depths within the LRS and recorded signals for four regional and local earthquakes. The results were used to identify and evaluate signal attenuation in surface-deployed fiber compared to buried fiber in the LRS. Burial depth responses to active-source signals were also evaluated similar to previous studies characterizing DAS sensitivity of surface-deployed fiber. Atmospheric noise was minimal as the cable was deployed in an indoor environment; however, where observed, atmospheric and anthropogenic noise was filtered out using the same bandpass filtering used to identify earthquake events. We found that signal attenuation of the surface-deployed fiber compared to buried fiber was relatively high in active-source experiments but was not consistently observed in earthquake signals. That burial depth is not highly correlated to attenuation of the observed earthquake signals indicates that in a noise-limited environment, placing DAS-interrogated fiber directly at the regolith surface may be a promising deployment strategy to consider for sensing remote seismic signals during lunar exploration.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Acoustic Codes in 2D Spherical Coordinate

Finite-difference methods are widely used to simulate infrasound propagation in the atmosphere. Flexibility of finite-difference scheme allows implementation of highly heterogeneous media for sound propagation as well as complex source models for sound generation. While full 3-D finite-difference methods have been utilized for local infrasound propagation with pronounced topography, 2-D modeling approach has been preferred for regional and global propagation as full 3-D methods generally require enormous computational resources. Infrasound propagation is often simulated with a second-order finite difference scheme. This lowest-order finite-difference scheme is robust and straightforward to implement complex boundary conditions, but the solution includes large error with numerical dispersion and dissipation. This large numerical error may make the second-order finite-difference not optimal for long range infrasound propagation modeling as the numerical dispersion degrades the accuracy of the solution unacceptably. Here, we developed a high-order finite-difference solver for long-range infrasound simulation. The high-order scheme is particularly popular for linear wave modeling in aeroacoustics owing to its low-dispersive and low-dissipative behavior. We develop and evaluate a high-order finite difference scheme in 2-D axisymmetric coordinates. The axisymmetry allows to approximate 3-D spherical sound propagation and amplitude attenuation by a 2-D method. AC2Dr is developed to simulate infrasound propagation in realistic atmosphere, but can be used for linear acoustic waves in general materials with background flow. AC2Dr in an axisymmetric coordinates allows for spherical radiation of acoustic waves from compact sources.

Sjogreen, Bjorn↗

Detection of the Large Surface Explosion Coupling Experiment by a Sparse Network of Balloon-Borne Infrasound Sensors

In recent years, high-altitude infrasound sensing has become more prolific, demonstrating an enormous value especially when utilized over regions inaccessible to traditional ground-based sensing. Similar to ground-based infrasound detectors, airborne sensors take advantage of the fact that impulsive atmospheric events such as explosions can generate low frequency acoustic waves, also known as infrasound. Due to negligible attenuation, infrasonic waves can travel over long distances, and provide important clues about their source. Here, we report infrasound detections of the Apollo detonation that was carried on 29 October 2020 as part of the Large Surface Explosion Coupling Experiment in Nevada, USA. Infrasound sensors attached to solar hot air balloons floating in the stratosphere detected the signals generated by the explosion at distances 170–210 km. Three distinct arrival phases seen in the signals are indicative of multipathing caused by the small-scale perturbations in the atmosphere. We also found that the local acoustic environment at these altitudes is more complex than previously thought.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Aerosols consistently suppress the convective boundary layer development

Aerosols with different vertical distribution and various optical properties induce diverse heating rates and thereby affecting convective boundary layer (CBL) development. Our results showed consistent CBL-suppression of aerosols during daytime with numerical experiments, in which aerosols were specified at different heights with synthesized single scattering albedo from 64 studies and asymmetry factor from 20 studies globally. Absorbing aerosols concentrated below but close to the CBL top had the strongest suppression effect on CBL development relative to that concentrated near surface or above CBL. Aerosol cooling effect by attenuating incident solar radiation and surface heat flux exceeded its warming effect by reheating the atmosphere layer with absorbed shortwave radiation, and eventually declined net heating rate, which inhibited CBL development, lowered mixed-layer potential temperature and stabilized atmospheric stratification. Stove effect of absorbing aerosols (CBL enhancement) under a zero background aerosol extinction coefficient is negligible for dominant dome effect (CBL suppression) which consistently suppresses CBL development regardless of aerosol vertical height and background aerosol extinction coefficient. Our study also highlighted the importance of specifying background aerosol extinction coefficient in numerical experiments for accurate assessment of aerosol radiative forcing and CBL-aerosol interactions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Doppler Lidar (DL) Instrument Handbook

The Doppler lidar (DL) is an active remote sensing instrument that provides range- and time-resolved measurements of radial velocity and attenuated backscatter. The principle of operation is similar to radar in that pulses of energy are transmitted into the atmosphere; the energy scattered back to the transceiver is collected and measured as a time-resolved signal. From the time delay between each outgoing transmitted pulse and the backscattered signal, the distance to the scatterer is inferred. The radial or line-of-sight velocity of the scatterers is determined from the Doppler frequency shift of the backscattered radiation. The DL uses a heterodyne detection technique in which the return signal is mixed with a reference laser beam (i.e., local oscillator) of known frequency. An onboard signal processing computer then determines the Doppler frequency shift from the spectra of the heterodyne signal. The energy content of the Doppler spectra can also be used to determine attenuated backscatter.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Impact of Aerosol and Cloud on the Solar Energy Potential over the Central Gangetic Himalayan Region

We examine the impact of atmospheric aerosols and clouds on the surface solar radiation and solar energy at Nainital, a high-altitude remote location in the central Gangetic Himalayan region (CGHR). For this purpose, we exploited the synergy of remote-sensed data in terms of ground-based AERONET Sun Photometer and satellite observations from the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), with radiative transfer model (RTM) simulations and 1 day forecasts from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). Clouds and aerosols are one of the most common sources of solar irradiance attenuation and hence causing performance issues in the photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) plant installations. The outputs of RTM results presented with high accuracy under clear, cloudy sky and dust conditions for global horizontal (GHI) and beam horizontal irradiance (BHI). On an annual basis the total aerosol attenuation was found to be up to 105 kWh m –2 for the GHI and 266 kWh m –2 for BHI, respectively, while the cloud effect is much stronger with an attenuation of 245 and 271 kWh m –2 on GHI and BHI. The results of this study will support the Indian solar energy producers and electricity handling entities in order to quantify the energy and financial losses due to cloud and aerosol presence.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Fused Filament Fabrication of Polycarbonate in a Reactive Atmosphere

Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) has become extremely useful in various industries, particularly when complex parts are needed in low volumes. However, the material properties available in FFF polymers are limited in scope. The properties of a FFF part can be changed in multiple ways. This study explores changing the bulk properties of a part by affecting each layer as it prints. Prior work has demonstrated the feasibility of altering polymer properties by layerwise exposure to a liquid chemical, but properties have never been modified in situ using a reactive gas. Here, FFF is done in the presence of a reactive gas. Specifically, the part is printed with polycarbonate in a reactive atmosphere of ozone and ultra-violet light. It was found that as each layer is exposed to a reactive gas, the bulk properties of the part change. A visual chemical change was seen, as well as confirmation of the reaction through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy attenuated total reflectance. The change in mechanical properties was measured through Dynamic Mechanical Analysis shear tests, showing a bulk change can be efficiently produced through FFF in a reactive atmosphere.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

An infrared, Raman, and X-ray database of battery interphase components

Further improvements to lithium-ion and emerging battery technologies can be enabled by an improved understanding of the chemistry and working mechanisms of interphases that form at electrochemically active battery interfaces. However, it is difficult to collect and interpret spectra of interphases for several reasons, including the presence of a variety of compounds. To address this challenge, we herein present a vibrational spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction data library of ten compounds that have been identified as interphase constituents in lithium-ion or emerging battery chemistries. The data library includes attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction data, collected in inert atmospheres provided by custom sample chambers. The data library presented in this work (and online repository) simplifies access to reference data that is otherwise either diffusely spread throughout the literature or non-existent, and provides energy storage researchers streamlined access to vital interphase-relevant data that can accelerate battery research efforts.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗