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At least 19 records

Broadband polarization-entangled source for C+L-band flex-grid quantum networks

The rising demand for transmission capacity in optical networks has motivated steady interest in expansion beyond the standard C-band (1530–1565 nm) into the adjacent L-band (1565–1625 nm) for an approximate doubling of capacity in a single stroke. However, in the context of quantum networking, the L-band has yet to be fully leveraged with the suite of advanced tools for characterization and management available from classical lightwave communications. In this work, we demonstrate an ultrabroadband two-photon source integrating both C- and L-band wavelength-selective switches for complete control of spectral routing and allocation across 7.5 THz in a single setup. Polarization state tomography of all 150 pairs of 25-GHz-wide channels reveals an average fidelity of 0.98 and total distillable entanglement greater than 181 kebits/s. This source is explicitly designed for flex-grid optical networks and can facilitate optimal utilization of entanglement resources across the full C+L-band.

42 ENGINEERING↗

A high-volume resonator for L-band DNP-NMR

DNP-NMR and EPR experiments that operate at or greater than L-band (i.e., ν 0 (e – ) = 1–2 GHz) are typically limited to maximum sample volumes of several hundred µL. These experiments rely on well-known resonator designs for DNP/EPR irradiation such as the loop-gap resonator and Alderman-Grant coil, where their maximum volumes limit further application to imaging experiments and high-throughput screening beyond L-band. Herein, we demonstrate a birdcage (BC) resonator design that can accommodate several mL of sample while operating around 1.5 GHz. The sample volume is maximized by using two identical BC resonators in a stacked configuration. Simulations are used to optimize the BC design and the performance is validated experimentally with liquid-state Overhauser-DNP-NMR experiments. This BC design exploits just the parasitic capacitance of conductive rings and features no fixed tuning capacitors. An enhancement of –77 is achieved on a 10 mM 4-Amino-TEMPO in H 2 O sample for a 5 mL sample volume. Finally, the associated sample heating is minimal due to the low-E-fields generated and the large sample mass with +3.4 K when driving 100 W for several seconds.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Exploring the potential of using L-Band InSAR for the mapping of flooded vegetation in tropical wetlands

Wetlands play a critical role in global water and carbon cycles, yet monitoring their water extent remains difficult, particularly beneath dense vegetation. SAR-based techniques such as backscatter thresholding are limited by complex scattering mechanisms, while fully polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) data capable of detecting doublebounce scattering remain scarce. To address these challenges, this study evaluates the potential of Interferometric SAR (InSAR) for mapping water surfaces beneath vegetation, termed flooded vegetation, using the Atrato floodplain in Colombia as a case study. We develop an automated workflow combining InSAR fringe detection with local phase homogeneity analysis and random sampling of processing parameters to generate probabilistic flooded vegetation maps. Applied to ALOS PALSAR-1 L-band image pairs from 2007–2011, the workflow captures seasonal fluctuations in flooded extent ranging from 500 to 1,500 km2. Compared to other L-band SAR inundation products, the InSAR-based maps identify broader flooded areas, with ~70% agreement in pairwise comparisons. Around 84% of detections align with existing wetland inventories and seasonal changes correspond with regional hydrological indicators, including terrestrial water storage anomalies and water gauge measurements. PolSAR analysis shows that InSAR complements backscatter-based methods by detecting inundation in areas with weak double-bounce signals. These findings suggest that combining InSAR with backscatter-based methods can improve detection of flooded vegetation, which is especially relevant for the upcoming NISAR mission that will offer frequent global L-band observations.

Coastal inundation↗

Commissioning the H i Observing Mode of the Beam Former for the Cryogenically Cooled Focal L-band Array for the GBT (FLAG)

We present the results of commissioning observations for a new digital beam-forming back end for the Focal plane L-band Array for the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (FLAG), a cryogenically cooled Phased Array Feed (PAF) with the lowest measured T {sub sys}/η of any PAF outfitted on a radio telescope to date. We describe the custom software used to apply beam-forming weights to the raw element covariances to create research-quality spectral-line images for the new fine-channel mode, study the stability of the beam weights over time, characterize FLAG’s sensitivity over a frequency range of 150 MHz, and compare the measured noise properties and observed distribution of neutral hydrogen emission from several extragalactic and Galactic sources with data obtained with the current single-pixel L-band receiver. These commissioning runs establish FLAG as the preeminent PAF receiver currently available for spectral-line observations on the world’s major radio telescopes.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Keck/NIRC2 L’-band Imaging of Jovian-mass Accreting Protoplanets around PDS 70

We present L’-band imaging of the PDS 70 planetary system with Keck/NIRC2 using the new infrared pyramid wave front sensor. We detected both PDS 70 b and c in our images, as well as the front rim of the circumstellar disk. After subtracting off a model of the disk, we measured the astrometry and photometry of both planets. Placing priors based on the dynamics of the system, we estimated PDS 70 b to have a semimajor axis of 20{sub −4}{sup +3} au and PDS 70 c to have a semimajor axis of 34{sub −6}{sup +12} au (95% credible interval). We fit the spectral energy distribution (SED) of both planets. For PDS 70 b, we were able to place better constraints on the red half of its SED than previous studies and inferred the radius of the photosphere to be 2–3 R {sub Jup}. The SED of PDS 70 c is less well constrained, with a range of total luminosities spanning an order of magnitude. With our inferred radii and luminosities, we used evolutionary models of accreting protoplanets to derive a mass of PDS 70 b between 2 and 4 M {sub Jup} and a mean mass accretion rate between 3 × 10{sup −7} and 8 × 10{sup −7} M {sub Jup}/yr. For PDS 70 c, we computed a mass between 1 and 3 M {sub Jup} and mean mass accretion rate between 1 × 10{sup −7} and 5 × 10{sup −7} M {sub Jup}/yr. The mass accretion rates imply dust accretion timescales short enough to hide strong molecular absorption features in both planets’ SEDs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Polarization-entangled source for flex-grid C+L-band quantum networks

We demonstrate an ultrabroadband polarization-entangled source integrating both C- and L-band wavelength-selective switches for spectral routing and allocation in a single fiberized setup, verifying high fidelity through tomography of all 150 pairs of 25 GHz-wide channels.

Alshowkan, Muneer↗

The TRAPUM L -band survey for pulsars in Fermi -LAT gamma-ray sources

ABSTRACT More than 100 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) have been discovered in radio observations of gamma-ray sources detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), but hundreds of pulsar-like sources remain unidentified. Here, we present the first results from the targeted survey of Fermi-LAT sources being performed by the Transients and Pulsars with MeerKAT (TRAPUM) Large Survey Project. We observed 79 sources identified as possible gamma-ray pulsar candidates by a Random Forest classification of unassociated sources from the 4FGL catalogue. Each source was observed for 10 min on two separate epochs using MeerKAT’s L-band receiver (856–1712 MHz), with typical pulsed flux density sensitivities of $\sim 100\, \mu$Jy. Nine new MSPs were discovered, eight of which are in binary systems, including two eclipsing redbacks and one system, PSR J1526−2744, that appears to have a white dwarf companion in an unusually compact 5 h orbit. We obtained phase-connected timing solutions for two of these MSPs, enabling the detection of gamma-ray pulsations in the Fermi-LAT data. A follow-up search for continuous gravitational waves from PSR J1526−2744 in Advanced LIGO data using the resulting Fermi-LAT timing ephemeris yielded no detection, but sets an upper limit on the neutron star ellipticity of 2.45 × 10−8. We also detected X-ray emission from the redback PSR J1803−6707 in data from the first eROSITA all-sky survey, likely due to emission from an intrabinary shock.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

HIGHLY-EFFICIENT 20-MW L-BAND MULTI-BEAM KLYSTRON

The overall goal of this project was to develop and demonstrate a novel two-stage multi-beam klystron (TS-MBK) for use in accelerator, medical, national security, medical, and environmental cleanup applications. The novelties embodied in the TS-MBK design include use of hollow beams to obtain strong coupling to cavities, and post acceleration after bunching to reduce the beam’s energy spread to allow an exceptional electronic efficiency that we predict can reach 90%. During Phase I of this project, Omega-P R&D refined its conceptual design of the 1.0 GHz TS-MBK, and collector design and cooling requirements for several levels of average power output. If, as was the case, it turned out that estimated costs for fabrication and testing of a full 12-beam TS-MBK prototype would exceed available Phase II funding, our Plan-B would have be adopted. In it, a single-beam version would have been designed and built, with all specifications identical to the 12-beam version, except that the average power level would be reduced by a factor of about 12. This one-beam version would still allow evaluation of the efficacy of our design concept for implementing two stages, including prevention of radiation loss at the HV gap, and for demonstrating the predicted 90% electronic efficiency and the absence of reflected electrons from the collector reaching the cathodes. But the absence of the expected industrial partner in further development of this novel RF source made it impractical for advancing the project into Phase II.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Pan-tropical daily L-band microwave land surface emissivity retrieval from GNSS-R observations

The uncertainties in microwave land surface emissivity (MLSE) measurements have long limited the use of spaceborne microwave radiometer data. As an emerging observation method, Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) has demonstrated great potential in several land and ocean applications. In this study, a method for obtaining daily MLSE dataset in the pan-tropical region from Cyclone GNSS (CYGNSS) observations is presented and evaluated. The CYGNSS observations are first aggregated into the Equal-Area-Scalable-Earth (EASE) 2.0 36 km grid by a combined weight function of distance, time, and signal-to-noise ratio variance. Then, the method employs a pixel-by-pixel regression algorithm to conduct the daily MLSE retrieval using reference emissivity derived from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) brightness temperature. The CYGNSS MLSE shows good agreement with SMAP MLSE, delivering an overall root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.022 and 0.017 for horizontal and vertical polarization, respectively, during the training set spanning the whole year of 2018. Furthermore, on the test set from January 2019 to May 2019, the RMSE values amounted to 0.030 and 0.023 for horizontal and vertical polarization, respectively. Temperature records from the International Soil Moisture Network are employed to calculate the emissivity and for in-situ validation, which yield an RMSE of 0.034 and 0.026 for the two polarizations, respectively. The proposed algorithm provides an encouraging approach to obtain accurate daily MLSE dataset for microwave remote sensing. Compared to the SMAP MLSE, the CYGNSS MLSE has a remarkable improvement of 86% in temporal resolution, greatly complementing the existing microwave emissivity datasets.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Soil moisture, physical and chemical properties coincident with airborne SAR data collections for 2017 and 2019, Seward Peninsula, Alaska

Soil samples were collected coincident with in-situ soil moisture and thaw depth measurements at NGEE Arctic study sites on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska in August 2017 and 2019 Field measurements and flights were conducted during both summers as a collaboration between the NASA ABoVE Project's Airborne SAR Campaign and the NGEE Arctic Project. Airborne overflights of L-band SAR instruments occurred during the soil sampling periods. Laboratory measurements of soil properties include bulk density, volumetric and gravimetric water content, carbon and nitrogen content, and particle size of mineral components. Soil samples processed and reported in this dataset were collected coincident with in situ measurements of soil moisture and thaw depth and airborne P-band and L-band SAR measurements as a collaboration between NGEE Arctic and NASA ABoVE. To learn more about how ABoVE protocols were applied for sampling site selection and making in situ measurements, see the following datasets: (2017: https://doi.org/10.5440/1423892 and 2019: https://doi.org/10.5440/1856042). Contained in this dataset are four .csv data files (including data dictionaries) and one zipped folder of *.pdf files.The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a research effort (with some overlap with Covid-19 pandemic) to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research. The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska.Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy's Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Network upgrade exploiting multi band: S- or E-band?

Nowadays, the fiber spectrum is only partially exploited, i.e., mainly in the C-band and more recently in the C + L-band, where the fiber attenuation profile experiences the minimum. Thus, fiber communications technology—amplifiers, switching, transceivers, etc.—and networking solutions are mature for those spectrum bands. However, the continuous increase in traffic means that capacity saturation of the current infrastructure is looming. Taking advantage of the unused portions of the spectrum (e.g., the S- and E-bands) may be an efficient solution to accommodate an increase in traffic without installing new fibers. Research is thus investigating multi-band transmission and networking to evaluate and enable such network upgrades. Some issues need to be solved or taken into account, from the enabling technology (e.g., amplifiers in the S- or E-band are still under development) to physical layer effects previously neglected, such as stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). SRS affects wideband transmission, potentially degrading active channels. The contribution of this paper is the investigation of network upgrades for C + L-band systems. In particular, upgrades exploiting the E- and S-bands are compared taking into account each band capacity and the effects of SRS on both new and already deployed channels (in both the C- and L-bands). A detailed analysis of the physical layer is provided also in the presence of guard bands between previously exploited bands and the bands used for upgrade. By leveraging the physical layer assessment, a networking analysis is carried out to evaluate the supported traffic increase and also the signal quality degradation due to SRS on active channels. Overall, the results suggest that upgrades to the E- and S-bands support a comparable increase in traffic. However, the exploitation of the E-band with 14 THz of guard band between the C- and E-bands may avoid detrimental effects to already active channels in the C + L-band, suggesting this upgrade strategy can be the most effective of the two.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

The NASA ISRO SAR (NISAR) Mission - Validation of Science Measurement Requirements

The NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) is scheduled for launch early in 2024 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), at Sriharikota, near Chennai, India. This mission is the result of a collaboration between NASA and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), where NASA has contributed elements of the mission such as an L-band SAR, and ISRO has contributed other elements, such as an S-band SAR. After successful launch, the NISAR mission will collect left-looking L-band SAR data over most of the Earth’s land areas twice during every 12-day exact repeat orbit. (once while in an ascending orbit direction and once while in a descending orbit direction). NASA and ISRO have individual and joint requirements on the mission that include the performance of the imaging radars onboard the spacecraft. For example, NASA must demonstrate that this L-band SAR will achieve a set of identified science measurement accuracy requirements that span Ecosystem science, Solid Earth science, and Cryosphere science disciplines. Likewise, ISRO has several applications objectives on both the L-band and S-band data from NISAR that the ISRO science team and project will be developing and testing. Pre-launch and post-launch activities have been planned to validate that these requirements are met. Here, we will discuss how the NASA plans are being executed and will present any initial results at the conference.

Chapman, Bruce↗

A global daily soil moisture dataset derived from Chinese FengYun Microwave Radiation Imager (MWRI)(2010–2019)

Surface soil moisture (SSM) is an important variable in drought monitoring, floods predicting, weather forecasting, etc. and plays a critical role in water and heat exchanges between land and atmosphere. SSM products from L-band observations, such as the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Mission, have proven to be optimal global estimations. Although X-band has a lower sensitivity to soil moisture than that of L-band, Chinese FengYun-3 series satellites (FY-3A/B/C/D) have provided sustainable and daily multiple SSM products from X-band since 2008. This research developed a new global SSM product (NNsm-FY) from FY-3B MWRI from 2010 to 2019, transferred high accuracy of SMAP L-band to FY-3B X-band. The NNsm-FY shows good agreement with in-situ observations and SMAP product and has a higher accuracy than that of official FY-3B product. With this new dataset, Chinese FY-3 satellites may play a larger role and provide opportunities of sustainable and longer-term soil moisture data record for hydrological study.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Measurement of L-shell emission from mid-Z targets under non-LTE conditions using Transmission Grating Spectrometer and DANTE power diagnostics

In this work, we present the measurement of L-band emission from buried Sc/V targets in experiments performed at the OMEGA laser facility. The goal of these experiments was to study non-local thermodynamic equilibrium plasmas and benchmark atomic physics codes. The L-band emission was measured simultaneously by the time resolved DANTE power diagnostic and the recently fielded time integrated Soreq-Transmission Grating Spectrometer (TGS) diagnostic. The TGS measurement was used to support the spectral reconstruction process needed for the unfolding of the DANTE data. The Soreq-TGS diagnostic allows for broadband spectral measurement in the 120 eV–2000 eV spectral band, covering L- and M-shell emission of mid- and high-Z elements, with spectral resolution λ/Δλ = 8–30 and accuracy better than 25%. The Soreq-TGS diagnostic is compatible with ten-inch-manipulator platforms and can be used for a wide variety of high energy density physics, laboratory astrophysics, and inertial confinement fusion experiments.

Fraenkel, M. (ORCID:0000000291939544)↗

The SPAN512 mid-latitude pulsar survey at the Nançay Radio Telescope

The large number of ongoing surveys for pulsars and transients at various radio observatories is motivated by the science obtained from these sources. Timing and polarisation analysis of relativistic binaries can place strong constraints on theories of gravity. The observation of a growing number of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) spread over the celestial sphere may allow the detection of a stochastic gravitational wave background arising from supermassive black hole binaries. A more complete sample of young pulsars improves our knowledge of neutron star birth and evolution. Transients such as fast radio bursts can serve to probe the intergalactic medium. The SPAN512 pulsar survey covers intermediate Galactic latitudes using the L-band receiver of the Nançay Radio Telescope (NRT). The survey covers 224 sq. deg. of the sky for a total exposure time of 2200 h. Population syntheses predict the discovery of 3 to 19 new normal pulsars and a few MSPs. We present detailed modelling of the NRT beam with its L-band receiver and its sensitivity which we used to precisely assess the expected survey yield. We used the flexible Pulsar Arecibo L-band Feed Array data processing pipeline to search the 47 TB of SPAN512 data for pulsars and transients. The SPAN512 survey discovered two new MSPs and one new middle-aged pulsar. We focus on the analysis of the 2.4-ms spin period pulsar J2205+6012 for which we also report the detection of gamma-ray pulsations. Its narrow pulse width (35µs at an observing frequency of 2.55 GHz) allows for sub-microsecond timing precision over 8 yr, with exciting prospects for pulsar timing array programs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Green Bank and Effelsberg Radio Telescope Searches for Axion Dark Matter Conversion in Neutron Star Magnetospheres

Axion dark matter (DM) may convert to radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation in the strong magnetic fields around neutron stars. The radio signature of such a process would be an ultranarrow spectral peak at a frequency determined by the mass of the axion particle. In this work, we analyze data we collected from the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in the L band and the Effelsberg 100-m Telescope in the $\textit{L}$ band and $\textit{S}$ band from a number of sources expected to produce bright signals of axion-photon conversion, including the Galactic center of the Milky Way and the nearby isolated neutron stars RX J0720.4-3125 and RX J0806.4-4123. We find no evidence for axion DM and are able to set constraints on the existence of axion DM in the highly motivated mass range between ~ 5 and 11 μ eV with the strongest constraints to date on axions in the ~10–11 μ eV range.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

FAST discovery of an extremely radio-faint millisecond pulsar from the Fermi -LAT unassociated source 3FGL J0318.1+0252

High sensitivity radio searches of unassociated γ-ray sources have proven to be an effective way of finding new pulsars. Using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) during its commissioning phase, we have carried out a number of targeted deep searches of Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) γ-ray sources. On February 27, 2018 we discovered an isolated millisecond pulsar (MSP), PSR J0318+0253, coincident with the unassociated γ-ray source 3FGL J0318.1+0252. PSR J0318+0253 has a spin period of 5.19 ms, a dispersion measure (DM) of 26 pc cm –3 corresponding to a DM distance of about 1.3 kpc, and a period-averaged flux density of (~11±2) µJy at L-band (1.05–1.45 GHz). Among all high energy MSPs, PSR J0318+0253 is the faintest ever detected in radio bands, by a factor of at least ~4 in terms of L-band fluxes. With the aid of the radio ephemeris, an analysis of 9.6 years of Fermi-LAT data revealed that PSR J0318+0253 also displays strong γ-ray pulsations. Follow-up observations carried out by both Arecibo and FAST suggest a likely spectral turn-over around 350 MHz. This is the first result from the collaboration between FAST and the Fermi-LAT teams as well as the first confirmed new MSP discovery by FAST, raising hopes for the detection of many more MSPs. Finally, such discoveries will make a significant contribution to our understanding of the neutron star zoo while potentially contributing to the future detection of gravitational waves, via pulsar timing array (PTA) experiments.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗