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At least 523 records · Page 29

Report of the 1988 2-D Intercomparison Workshop, chapter 3

Several factors contribute to the errors encountered. With the exception of the line-by-line model, all of the models employ simplifying assumptions that place fundamental limits on their accuracy and range of validity. For example, all 2-D modeling groups use the diffusivity factor approximation. This approximation produces little error in tropospheric H2O and CO2 cooling rates, but can produce significant errors in CO2 and O3 cooling rates at the stratopause. All models suffer from fundamental uncertainties in shapes and strengths of spectral lines. Thermal flux algorithms being used in 2-D tracer tranport models produce cooling rates that differ by as much as 40 percent for the same input model atmosphere. Disagreements of this magnitude are important since the thermal cooling rates must be subtracted from the almost-equal solar heating rates to derive the net radiative heating rates and the 2-D model diabatic circulation. For much of the annual cycle, the net radiative heating rates are comparable in magnitude to the cooling rate differences described. Many of the models underestimate the cooling rates in the middle and lower stratosphere. The consequences of these errors for the net heating rates and the diabatic circulation will depend on their meridional structure, which was not tested here. Other models underestimate the cooling near 1 mbar. Suchs errors pose potential problems for future interactive ozone assessment studies, since they could produce artificially-high temperatures and increased O3 destruction at these levels. These concerns suggest that a great deal of work is needed to improve the performance of thermal cooling rate algorithms used in the 2-D tracer transport models.

Jackman, Charles H.↗

What it Takes to Compute Highly Accurate Rovibrational Line Lists for Use in Astrochemistry

We review the Best Theory + Reliable High-resolution Experiment (BTRHE) strategy for obtaining highly accurate molecular rovibrational line lists with InfraRed (IR) intensities. The need for highly accurate molecular rovibrational line lists is two-fold: a) assignment of the many rovibrational lines for common stable molecules especially those that exhibit a large amplitude motion, such as NH3, or have a high density of states such as SO2; and b) characterization of the atmospheres of exoplanets which will be one of the main areas of research in astronomy in the coming decades. The first motivation arises due to the need to eliminate lines due to common molecules in an astronomical observation in order to identify lines from new molecules, while the second motivation arises due to the need to obtain accurate molecular opacities in order to characterize the atmosphere of an exoplanet. The BTRHE strategy first consists of using high quality ab initio quantum chemical methods to obtain a global potential energy surface (PES) and dipole moment surface (DMS) that contains the proper physics. The global PES is then refined using a subset of the reliable high-resolution experimental data. The refined PES then gives energy level predictions to an accuracy similar to the reproduction accuracy of the experimental data used in the refinement step in the interpolation region (i.e., within the range of the experimental data used in the refinement step). The accuracy of the energy levels will slowly degrade as they are extrapolated to spectral regions beyond the high-resolution experimental data used in the refinement step. However, because the degradation is slow, the predicted energy levels can be used to assign new high-resolution experiments, and the data from these can then be used in a subsequent refinement step. In this way, the global PES eventually can yield highly accurate energy levels for all desired spectral regions including to very high energies and high J values. We show that IR intensities computed with the BTRHE rovibrational wavefunctions and the DMS can be very accurate provided one has minimized the fitting error of the DMS and tested the completeness of the DMS. Some examples of our work on NH3, CO2, and SO2 are given to highlight the usefulness of the BTRHE strategy and to provide ideas on how to further improve its predictive power in the future. In particular, it is shown how successive refinement steps, once new high-resolution data is available, can lead to PESs that yield highly accurate transition energies to larger spectral regions. The importance of including non-adiabatic corrections to reduce the J-dependence of errors for H-containing molecules is shown with work on NH3. Another very important aspect of the BTRHE approach is the consistency across isotopologues, which allows for highly accurate line lists for any isotopologue once one is obtained for the main isotopologue (which has more high-resolution data available for refinement).

Xinchuan Huang↗

Effects of micrometer-scale surface roughness on thermal infrared emittance spectra of silica glass

Surface roughness is known to decrease thermal infrared (TIR) absorption band intensity, but studies of the effect on geologically relevant samples are relatively limited. To determine the effect of surface roughness (with features smaller than ~2/3 of the wavelength) on TIR spectra, we investigated two glass compositions with prepared roughened surfaces: (1) high purity fused silica and (2) soda-lime glass (73 wt% SiO$_2$). We roughened the surfaces of the glasses by sandblasting and polishing with grit paper. The surfaces were characterized with scanning electron microscopy and stylus profilometry. We then analyzed the roughened glasses with TIR emittance spectroscopy. Micrometer-scale roughness causes a decrease in TIR absorption band intensity, relative to a specular surface. No significant changes in band shape or shifts in wavelength were detected. As roughness increases, empirical results show a logarithmic decrease in TIR absorption band intensity. The logarithmic trends of the two glass compositions are different; empirical roughness calibrations do not translate across different compositions. A linear, least-squares spectral deconvolution using two endmembers, specular and blackbody, predicts model spectra of roughened glass surfaces with relatively low error. This is of consequence to orbital TIR measurements of poorly constrained targets, such as the martian surface, because micrometer-scale roughness is adequately modeled by the addition of a blackbody spectrum to the deconvolution endmember matrix.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Counterdiabatic Driving with Performance Guarantees

Counterdiabatic (CD) driving has the potential to speed up adiabatic quantum state preparation by suppressing unwanted excitations. However, existing approaches either require intractable classical computations or are based on approximations that do not have performance guarantees. We propose and analyze a nonvariational, system-agnostic CD expansion method and analytically show that it converges exponentially quickly in the expansion order. In finite systems, the required resources scale inversely with the spectral gap, which we argue is asymptotically optimal. To extend our method to the thermodynamic limit and suppress errors stemming from high-frequency transitions, we leverage finite-time adiabatic protocols. In particular, we show that a time determined by the quantum speed limit is sufficient to prepare the desired ground state, without the need to optimize the adiabatic trajectory. Numerical tests of our method on the quantum Ising chain show that our method can outperform state-of-the-art variational CD approaches.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Blue Canyon Dome Emplacement Artifacts

The Blue Canyon Dome (BCD) experiments are a series of intermediate scale subsurface chemical explosions designed to explore the geophysical relationship between scaled yields and formation damage. Phase 2 of this experiment involved explosions designed to evaluate the effect of damage, demonstrating the effect of geologic features and previous damage on the near field seismic signatures, not just in amplitude, but also in spectral content. Based on the emplacement effect on the seismic signature, the moment-based yield estimates showed error between 10s-1000s of percent. This report details an alternative approach to emplacement-based filtering techniques of the seismic signatures to improve yield estimates for explosions in damaged rock. The results will be used to develop an improved inverse yield model that leverages the information in the seismic signature for each source based on emplacement type.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

Predicting the thermal/structural performance of the atmospheric trace molecules spectroscopy /ATMOS/ Fourier transform spectrometer

ATMOS is a Fourier transform spectrometer to measure atmospheric trace molecules over a spectral range of 2-16 microns. Assessment of the system performance of ATMOS includes evaluations of optical system errors induced by thermal and structural effects. In order to assess the optical system errors induced from thermal and structural effects, error budgets are assembled during system engineering tasks and line of sight and wavefront deformations predictions (using operational thermal and vibration environments and computer models) are subsequently compared to the error budgets. This paper discusses the thermal/structural error budgets, modelling and analysis methods used to predict thermal/structural induced errors and the comparisons that show that predictions are within the error budgets.

Miller, J. M.↗

Assessment of Thematic Mapper band-to-band registration by the block correlation method

Rectangular blocks of pixels from one band image were statistically correlated against blocks centered on identical pixels from a second band image. The block pairs were shifted in pixel increments both vertically and horizontally with respect to each other and the correlation coefficient to the maximum correlation was taken as the best estimate of registration error for each block pair. For the band combinations of the Arkansas scene studied, the misregistration of TM spectral bands within the noncooled focal plane lie well within the 0.2 pixel target specification. Misregistration between the middle IR bands is well within this specification also. The thermal IR band has an apparent misregistration with TM band 7 of approximately 3 pixels in each direction. The TM band 3 has a misregistration of approximately 0.2 pixel in the across-scan direction and 0.5 pixel in the along-scan direction, with both TM bands 5 and 7.

Card, D. H.↗

Assessment of Thematic Mapper Band-to-band Registration by the Block Correlation Method

Rectangular blocks of pixels from one band image were statistically correlated against blocks centered on identical pixels from a second band image. The block pairs were shifted in pixel increments both vertically and horizontally with respect to each other and the correlation coefficient to the maximum correlation was taken as the best estimate of registration error for each block pair. For the band combinations of the Arkansas scene studied, the misregistration of TM spectral bands within the noncooled focal plane lie well within the 0.2 pixel target specification. Misregistration between the middle IR bands is well within this specification also. The thermal IR band has an apparent misregistration with TM band 7 of approximately 3 pixels in each direction. The TM band 3 has a misregistration of approximately 0.2 pixel in the across-scan direction and 0.5 pixel in the along-scan direction, with both TM bands 5 and 7.

Card, D. H.↗

Spline function approximation for velocimeter Doppler frequency measurement

A spline function approximation approach for measuring the Doppler spectral peak frequency in a laser Doppler velocimeter system is presented. The processor is designed for signal bursts with mean Doppler shift frequencies up to 100 MHz, input turbulence up to 20 percent, and photon counts as low as 300. The frequency-domain processor uses a bank of digital bandpass filters for the capture of the energy spectrum of each signal burst. The average values of the filter output energies, as a function of normalized frequency, are modeled as deterministic spline functions which are linearly weighted to evaluate the spectral peak location associated with the Doppler shift. The weighting coefficients are chosen to minimize the mean square error. Performance evaluation by simulation yields average errors in estimating mean Doppler frequencies within 0.5 percent for poor signal-to-noise conditions associated with a low photon count of 300 photons/burst.

Savakis, Andreas E.↗

Least reliable bits coding (LRBC) for high data rate satellite communications

LRBC, a bandwidth efficient multilevel/multistage block-coded modulation technique, is analyzed. LRBC uses simple multilevel component codes that provide increased error protection on increasingly unreliable modulated bits in order to maintain an overall high code rate that increases spectral efficiency. Soft-decision multistage decoding is used to make decisions on unprotected bits through corrections made on more protected bits. Analytical expressions and tight performance bounds are used to show that LRBC can achieve increased spectral efficiency and maintain equivalent or better power efficiency compared to that of BPSK. The relative simplicity of Galois field algebra vs the Viterbi algorithm and the availability of high-speed commercial VLSI for block codes indicates that LRBC using block codes is a desirable method for high data rate implementations.

Vanderaar, Mark↗

Parameter trade-offs for imaging spectroscopy systems

With the advent of the EOS era and of configurable sensors, users of these instruments are faced with the twin problems of specifying data acquisition parameters and extracting desired information from the voluminous data. An application of a system model is made to explore system parameter trade-offs for a model sensor based on the High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer. Radiometric performance was studied, along with the effect on classification accuracy of several system parameters. Using a model scene based on typical agricultural reflectance and atmospheric conditions, the atmosphere and sensor are seen to have significant effects on the mean received signal and noise performance. The effect of random uncorrelated errors in the radiometric calibration of the detector array is seen to degrade system performance, especially in the spectral bands below 1 micron. Accurate pixel-to-pixel relative radiometric calibration and the use of the Image Motion Compensation option are seen to improve classification accuracy, especially at high solar zenith angles. Feature sets chosen from characteristics of the scene performed best overall, but ones chosen based on signal-to-noise ratios were seen to be more robust.

Kerekes, John P.↗

The distribution of dark matter in the A2256 cluster

Using spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy, it was determined that the X-ray emitting gas in the rich cluster A2256 is nearly isothermal to a radius of at least 0.76/h Mpc, or about three core radii. These data can be used to measure the distribution of the dark matter in the cluster. It was found that the total mass interior to 0.76/h Mpc and 1.5/h Mpc is (0.5 +/- 0.1 and 1.0 +/- 0.5) x 10(exp 15)/h of the solar mass respectively where the errors encompass the full range allowed by all models used. Thus, the mass appropriate to the region where spectral information was obtained is well determined, but the uncertainties become large upon extrapolating beyond that region. It is shown that the galaxy orbits are midly anisotropic which may cause the beta discrepancy in this cluster.

Henry, J. Patrick↗

ROSAT Observations of a New X-ray Transient in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We describe ROSAT observations of a new X-ray transient and its probable optical companion in the Small Magellanic Cloud, The transient, designated RX J0117.6-7330, appeared at a position approx. 5 southeast of the X-ray pulsar, SMC X-1, in 1992 October 1-2 PSPC observations centered on the pulsar. It was detected again in a similar observation 246 days later at a counting rate diminished by a factor of 270, which corresponds to an average e-folding decay time of 44 days. No periodic pulsations have been detected. The average 1992 flux level would be produced by a source radiating isotropically with a luminosity of 1.6 x 10(exp 37) (D/50 kpc)(exp 2) ergs 1/s in the energy range 0.2-2.5 keV. The 5 radius positional error circle includes the probable optical counterpart in the form of a magnitude V = 14.2 star with the spectral characteristics of type Be.

Clark, George W.↗

ROSAT Observations of a New X-ray Transient in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We describe ROSAT observations of a new X-ray transient and its probable optical companion in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The transient, designated RX J0117.6-7330, appeared at a position approximately 5 min southeast of the X-ray pulsar, SMC X-1, in 1992 October 1-2 PSPC observations centered on the pulsar. It was detected again in a similar observation 246 days later at a counting rate diminished by a factor of 270, which corresponds to an average epsilon-folding decay time of 44 days. No periodic pulsations have been detected. The average 1992 flux level would be produced by a source radiating isotropically with a luminosity of 1.6 X 10(exp 37)(D/50 kpc)(exp 2) ergs/s in the energy range 0.2-2.5 keV. The 5 sec radius positional error circle includes the probable optical counterpart in the form of a magnitude V = 14.2 star with the spectral characteristics of type Be.

Clark, George W.↗

Derived Land Surface Emissivity From Suomi NPP CrIS

Presented here is the land surface IR spectral emissivity retrieved from the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) measurements. The CrIS is aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite launched on October 28, 2011. We describe the retrieval algorithm, demonstrate the surface emissivity retrieved with CrIS measurements, and inter-comparison with the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) emissivity. We also demonstrate that surface emissivity from satellite measurements can be used in assistance of monitoring global surface climate change, as a long-term measurement of IASI and CrIS will be provided by the series of EUMETSAT MetOp and US Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites. Monthly mean surface properties are produced using last 5-year IASI measurements. A temporal variation indicates seasonal diversity and El Nino/La Nina effects not only shown on the water but also on the land. Surface spectral emissivity and skin temperature from current and future operational satellites can be utilized as a means of long-term monitoring of the Earth's environment. CrIS spectral emissivity are retrieved and compared with IASI. The difference is small and could be within expected retrieval error; however it is under investigation.

Zhou, Daniel K.↗

Compact Assumption Applied to the Monopole Term of Farassat's Formulations

Farassat's formulations provide an acoustic prediction at an observer location provided a source surface, including motion and flow conditions. This paper presents compact forms for the monopole term of several of Farassat's formulations. When the physical surface is elongated, such as the case of a high aspect ratio rotorcraft blade, compact forms can be derived which are shown to be a function of the blade cross sectional area by reducing the computation from a surface integral to a line integral. The compact forms of all formulations are applied to two example cases: a short span wing with constant airfoil cross section moving at three forward flight Mach numbers and a rotor at two advance ratios. Acoustic pressure time histories and power spectral densities of monopole noise predicted from the compact forms of all the formulations at several observer positions are shown to compare very closely to the predictions from their non-compact counterparts. A study on the influence of rotorcraft blade shape on the high frequency portion of the power spectral density shows that there is a direct correlation between the aspect ratio of the airfoil and the error incurred by using the compact form. Finally, a prediction of pressure gradient from the non-compact and compact forms of the thickness term of Formulation G1A shows that using the compact forms results in a 99.6% improvement in computation time, which will be critical when noise is incorporated into a design environment.

Lopes, Leonard V.↗

The correlated-k method for radiation calculations in nonhomogeneous atmospheres

The accuracy of the correlated-k method, which is a technique for radiation calculations with spectrally averaged data in nonhomogeneous atmospheres, is investigated. Comparisons are made for scattering and absorbing atmospheres containing CO2, H2O, and O3, and it is concluded that: (1) the errors in correlated-k are generally of order of magnitude 1 percent, (2) much larger errors occur only when a radiative quantity is very much smaller than its average value, (3) errors do not depend systematically on the gas molecule, the distributions of gases and aerosols, or on the aerosol optical properties, and (4) errors do not systematically increase with the order of differencing. It is shown that the multiplication property for transmission by overlapping bands can be incorporated into correlated-k, that temperature effects can be interpolated on a coarse grid, and that 10 quadrature points are often sufficient to average over complex spectral intervals containing thousands of lines.

Goody, Richard↗

Optical Imaging and Radiometric Modeling and Simulation

OPTOOL software is a general-purpose optical systems analysis tool that was developed to offer a solution to problems associated with computational programs written for the James Webb Space Telescope optical system. It integrates existing routines into coherent processes, and provides a structure with reusable capabilities that allow additional processes to be quickly developed and integrated. It has an extensive graphical user interface, which makes the tool more intuitive and friendly. OPTOOL is implemented using MATLAB with a Fourier optics-based approach for point spread function (PSF) calculations. It features parametric and Monte Carlo simulation capabilities, and uses a direct integration calculation to permit high spatial sampling of the PSF. Exit pupil optical path difference (OPD) maps can be generated using combinations of Zernike polynomials or shaped power spectral densities. The graphical user interface allows rapid creation of arbitrary pupil geometries, and entry of all other modeling parameters to support basic imaging and radiometric analyses. OPTOOL provides the capability to generate wavefront-error (WFE) maps for arbitrary grid sizes. These maps are 2D arrays containing digital sampled versions of functions ranging from Zernike polynomials to combination of sinusoidal wave functions in 2D, to functions generated from a spatial frequency power spectral distribution (PSD). It also can generate optical transfer functions (OTFs), which are incorporated into the PSF calculation. The user can specify radiometrics for the target and sky background, and key performance parameters for the instrument s focal plane array (FPA). This radiometric and detector model setup is fairly extensive, and includes parameters such as zodiacal background, thermal emission noise, read noise, and dark current. The setup also includes target spectral energy distribution as a function of wavelength for polychromatic sources, detector pixel size, and the FPA s charge diffusion modulation transfer function (MTF).

Ha, Kong Q.↗