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138 records · Page 8

Retrievals of Cloud Droplet Size from the RSP Data: Validation Using in Situ Measurements

We present comparisons of cloud droplet size distributions retrieved from the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) data with correlative in situ measurements made during the North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES). This field experiment was based at St. Johns airport, Newfoundland, Canada with the latest deployment in May - June 2016. RSP was onboard the NASA C-130 aircraft together with an array of in situ and other remote sensing instrumentation. The RSP is an along-track scanner measuring polarized and total reflectances in9 spectral channels. Its unique high angular resolution allows for characterization of liquid water droplet size using the rainbow structure observed in the polarized reflectances in the scattering angle range between 135 and 165 degrees. A parametric fitting algorithm applied to the polarized reflectances provides retrievals of the droplet effective radius and variance assuming a prescribed size distribution shape (gamma distribution). In addition to this, we use a non-parametric method, Rainbow Fourier Transform (RFT), which allows us to retrieve the droplet size distribution (DSD) itself. The latter is important in the case of clouds with complex structure, which results in multi-modal DSDs. During NAAMES the aircraft performed a number of flight patterns specifically designed for comparison of remote sensing retrievals and in situ measurements. These patterns consisted of two flight segments above the same straight ground track. One of these segments was flown above clouds allowing for remote sensing measurements, while the other was at the cloud top where cloud droplets were sampled. We compare the DSDs retrieved from the RSP data with in situ measurements made by the Cloud Droplet Probe (CDP). The comparisons show generally good agreement with deviations explainable by the position of the aircraft within cloud and by presence of additional cloud layers in RSP view that do not contribute to the in situ DSDs. In the latter case the distributions retrieved from the RSP data were consistent with the multi-layer cloud structures observed in the correlative High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) profiles. The comparison results provide a rare validation of polarimetric droplet size retrieval techniques, which can be used for analysis of satellite data on global scale.

cloud droplets↗

Accurate Characterization of Rain Drop Size Distribution Using Meteorological Particle Spectrometer and 2D Video Disdrometer for Propagation and Remote Sensing Applications

Accurate measurements of rain drop size distributions (DSD), with particular emphasis on small and tiny drops, are presented. Measurements were conducted in two very different climate regions, namely Northern Colorado and Northern Alabama. Both datasets reveal a combination of (i) a drizzle mode for drop diameters less than 0.7 mm and (ii) a precipitation mode for larger diameters. Scattering calculations using the DSDs are performed at S and X bands and compared with radar observations for the first location. Our accurate DSDs will improve radar-based rain rate estimates as well as propagation predictions.

disdrometer↗

GPM DPR Retrievals: Algorithm, Evaluation, and Validation

The primary goal of the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) aboard the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core satellite is to infer precipitationrate and raindrop/particle size distributions (DSD/PSD). The focus of this paper is threefold: 1)description of the DPR retrieval algorithm that uses an adjustable relationship between rainrate (R) and the mass-weighted diameter (Dm) or an R-Dm relationship in solving for R and Dmsimultaneously; 2) evaluation of the DPR algorithm based on the physical simulationsthat employ measured DSD/PSD to understand the mechanism and errorcharacteristics of the retrieval method; 3) review of ground validation studies for theDPR product as well as analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the ground radarand rain gauge/disdrometer validations. Overall, the DPR Version-6 algorithmprovides reasonably accurate estimates of R and Dm in rain. Non-uniformity in therain profile, however, tends to degrade the accuracy of the R and Dm estimates tosome extent as the range-independent assumption of the adjustable parameter () ofthe R-Dm relation is not able to fully account for natural variation of DSD in the verticalprofile. Underestimation of the DPR snow rate is found when compared with theindependent dual-frequency ratio (DFR) technique. This is possibly the result of theconstraint associated with the path integral attenuation (PIA)/differential PIA (dPIA)used in the DPR algorithm to find the best  and range-independent  assumption. Arange-variable  model, proposed in the DPR Version-7 algorithm, is expected toimprove rain and snow retrieval.

Liang Liao↗

SuperHERO (Super - High Energy Replicated Optics) Balloon Mission Concept

The SuperHERO hard-x-ray telescope is a proposed high-angular resolution successor to Marshall Space Flight Center’s (MSFC) successful High Energy Replicated Optic (HERO) and the HERO to Explore the Sun (HEROES) balloon missions. By utilizing recent advancements in MSFC’s replicated full shell, NiCo x-ray optic technology, SuperHERO will achieve its technical goal of demonstrating better than 10 arcseconds (arcsecs) angular resolution in half-power diameter (HPD) on a balloon platform. This represents a 6-fold improvement to the current state-of-the-art resolution for hard-x-ray, astrophysical telescopes and will allow for the observation of the high-energy-universe in unprecedented spatial detail. The SuperHERO balloon observatory will consist of seven coaligned, identical telescopes with a total focal length of 12-meters. Each telescope will pair a Mirror Module Assembly (MMA) comprised of NiCo shell optics matched to a CdTe Double-sided Strip Detector (CdTe-DSD) plane provided by iMAGINE-X Inc. and Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli-IPMU). Iridium coating applied directly to each shell will boost reflectivity into the hard-x-ray regime. Employing additional high-heritage technology, SuperHERO will have an open-truss carbon-composite gondola similarly used on the XL-Calibur balloon mission and will use the Wallops Arc-Second Pointer (WASP) system for attitude control

NickThomas↗

Higher harmonic non-linear flow modes of charged hadrons in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV

Anisotropic flow coefficients, v n , non-linear flow mode coefficients, χ n,mk , and correlations among different symmetry planes, ρ n,mk are measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV. Results obtained with multi-particle correlations are reported for the transverse momentum interval 0.2 < p T < 5.0 GeV/c within the pseudorapidity interval 0.4 < |η| < 0.8 as a function of collision centrality. The v n coefficients and χ n,mk and ρ n,mk are presented up to the ninth and seventh harmonic order, respectively. Calculations suggest that the correlations measured in different symmetry planes and the non-linear flow mode coefficients are dependent on the shear and bulk viscosity to entropy ratios of the medium created in heavy-ion collisions. The comparison between these measurements and those at lower energies and calculations from hydrodynamic models places strong constraints on the initial conditions and transport properties of the system.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

First measurement of the |t|-dependence of coherent J/ψ photonuclear production

The first measurement of the cross section for coherent J/ψ photoproduction as a function of |t|, the square of the momentum transferred between the incoming and outgoing target nucleus, is presented. The data were measured with the ALICE detector in ultra-peripheral Pb–Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=5.02TeV with the J/ψ produced in the central rapidity region |y|<0.8, which corresponds to the small Bjorken-x range (0.3-1.4)×10 -3 . The measured |t|-dependence is not described by computations based only on the Pb nuclear form factor, while the photonuclear cross section is better reproduced by models including shadowing according to the leading-twist approximation, or gluon-saturation effects from the impact-parameter dependent Balitsky–Kovchegov equation. These new results are therefore a valid tool to constrain the relevant model parameters and to investigate the transverse gluonic structure at very low Bjorken-x.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Production of pions, kaons, (anti-)protons and &straightphi; mesons in Xe–Xe collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.44 TeV

The first measurement of the production of pions, kaons, (anti-)protons and &straightphi; mesons at midrapidity in Xe–Xe collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.44 TeV is presented. Transverse momentum (p T ) spectra and p T -integrated yields are extracted in several centrality intervals bridging from p–Pb to mid-central Pb–Pb collisions in terms of final-state multiplicity. The study of Xe–Xe and Pb–Pb collisions allows systems at similar charged-particle multiplicities but with different initial geometrical eccentricities to be investigated. A detailed comparison of the spectral shapes in the two systems reveals an opposite behaviour for radial and elliptic flow. In particular, this study shows that the radial flow does not depend on the colliding system when compared at similar charged-particle multiplicity. In terms of hadron chemistry, the previously observed smooth evolution of particle ratios with multiplicity from small to large collision systems is also found to hold in Xe–Xe. In addition, our results confirm that two remarkable features of particle production at LHC energies are also valid in the collision of medium-sized nuclei: the lower proton-to-pion ratio with respect to the thermal model expectations and the increase of the &straightphi;-to-pion ratio with increasing final-state multiplicity.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗