Search results for "ISC"
showing 10 items of 48980 documents
Diving into exoplanets: Are water seas the most common?
2019
One of the basic tenets of exobiology is the need for a liquid substratum in which life can arise, evolve, and develop. The most common version of this idea involves the necessity of water to act as such a substratum, both because that is the case on Earth and because it seems to be the most viable liquid for chemical reactions that lead to life. Other liquid media that could harbor life, however, have occasionally been put forth. In this work, we investigate the relative probability of finding superficial seas on rocky worlds that could be composed of nine different, potentially abundant, liquids, including water. We study the phase space size of habitable zones defined for those substance…
Spectral alignment of multi-temporal cross-sensor images with automated kernel canonical correlation analysis
2015
In this paper we present an approach to perform relative spectral alignment between optical cross-sensor acquisitions. The proposed method aims at projecting the images from two different and possibly disjoint input spaces into a common latent space, in which standard change detection algorithms can be applied. The system relies on the regularized kernel canonical correlation analysis transformation (kCCA), which can accommodate nonlinear dependencies between pixels by means of kernel functions. To learn the projections, the method employs a subset of samples belonging to the unchanged areas or to uninteresting radiometric differences. Since the availability of ground truth information to p…
A giant exoplanet orbiting a very-low-mass star challenges planet formation models
2019
Surveys have shown that super-Earth and Neptune-mass exoplanets are more frequent than gas giants around low-mass stars, as predicted by the core accretion theory of planet formation. We report the discovery of a giant planet around the very-low-mass star GJ 3512, as determined by optical and near-infrared radial-velocity observations. The planet has a minimum mass of 0.46 Jupiter masses, very high for such a small host star, and an eccentric 204-day orbit. Dynamical models show that the high eccentricity is most likely due to planet-planet interactions. We use simulations to demonstrate that the GJ 3512 planetary system challenges generally accepted formation theories, and that it puts con…
A dust-enshrouded tidal disruption event with a resolved radio jet in a galaxy merger
2018
Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are transient flares produced when a star is ripped apart by the gravitational field of a supermassive black hole (SMBH). We have observed a transient source in the western nucleus of the merging galaxy pair Arp 299 that radiated >1.5 × 10 erg at infrared and radio wavelengths but was not luminous at optical or x-ray wavelengths. We interpret this as a TDE with much of its emission reradiated at infrared wavelengths by dust. Efficient reprocessing by dense gas and dust may explain the difference between theoretical predictions and observed luminosities of TDEs. The radio observations resolve an expanding and decelerating jet, probing the jet formation and evol…
Quantitative models of hydrothermal fluid–mineral reaction: The Ischia case
2013
Abstract The intricate pathways of fluid–mineral reactions occurring underneath active hydrothermal systems are explored in this study by applying reaction path modelling to the Ischia case study. Ischia Island, in Southern Italy, hosts a well-developed and structurally complex hydrothermal system which, because of its heterogeneity in chemical and physical properties, is an ideal test sites for evaluating potentialities/limitations of quantitative geochemical models of hydrothermal reactions. We used the EQ3/6 software package, version 7.2b, to model reaction of infiltrating waters (mixtures of meteoric water and seawater in variable proportions) with Ischia’s reservoir rocks (the Mount Ep…
Comment on “Evolution of high-pressure mafic granulites and pelitic gneisses from NE Madagascar: Tectonic implications”. Tectonophysics, 662, 219–242…
2017
Abstract Determining the possible tectonic regimes active during the Neoproterozoic is crucial for the knowledge of the evolution of the super-continent Gondwana. In Madagascar, that occupies a key position in Gondwana, there is an on-going debate regarding the location of possible suture zones and the implications in terms of paleo-geography. Recognizing high-pressure to ultra-high pressure conditions in mafic rocks is commonly viewed as a strong argument for paleo-subduction zones. Ishwar-Kumar et al. (2015) report unusual high pressure conditions (24 kbar) in Neoproterozoic to Cambrian rocks from North-Central Madagascar (Andriamena Complex). They propose a geodynamic model in which exhu…
The impact of degassing on the oxidation state of basaltic magmas: A case study of Kīlauea volcano
2016
Volcanic emissions link the oxidation state of the Earth's mantle to the composition of the atmosphere. Whether the oxidation state of an ascending magma follows a redox buffer – hence preserving mantle conditions – or deviates as a consequence of degassing remains under debate. Thus, further progress is required before erupted basalts can be used to infer the redox state of the upper mantle or the composition of their co-emitted gases to the atmosphere. Here we present the results of X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy at the iron K-edge carried out for a series of melt inclusions and matrix glasses from ejecta associated with three eruptions of Kīlauea volcano (Hawai…
Estudio de bofedales en los Andes ecuatorianos a través de la comparación de imágenes Landsat-8 y Sentinel-2
2019
[EN] The objective of the present study was to compare the Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 images to calculate the wetland´s extension, distribution and degree of conservation, in Reserva de Producción de Fauna Chinborazo (RPFCH) protected area located in the Andean region of Ecuador. This process was developed with in situ work in 16 wetlands, distributed in different conservation levels. The Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 images were processed through a radiometric calibration (restoration of lost lines or píxels and correction of the stripe of the image) and an atmospheric correction (conversion of the digital levels to radiance values), to later calculate the Vegetation spectral indexes: NDVI, SAVI …
Exploiting Maximum Entropy method and ASTER data for assessing debris flow and debris slide susceptibility for the Giampilieri catchment (north-easte…
2016
This study aims at evaluating the performance of the Maximum Entropy method in assessing landslide susceptibility, exploiting topographic and multispectral remote sensing predictors. We selected the catchment of the Giampilieri stream, which is located in the north-eastern sector of Sicily (southern Italy), as test site. On 1 October 2009, a storm rainfall triggered in this area hundreds of debris flow/avalanche phenomena causing extensive economical damage and loss of life. Within this area a presence-only-based statistical method was applied to obtain susceptibility models capable of distinguishing future activation sites of debris flow and debris slide, which where the main source of fai…
Analysing the effect of land use and vegetation cover on soil infiltration in three contrasting environments in northeast Spain
2017
Este estudio presenta el análisis conjunto de la información obtenida a partir de 195 ensayos de infiltración en el campo, que fueron realizados mediante dispositivos de doble anillo. Los experimentos se realizaron en 20 situaciones contrastadas de usos del suelo, los cuales se encuentran distribuidos en tres contextos geográficos (costa NE de Cataluña, monte bajo del sector central del valle del Ebro y montaña media de la vertiente Sur del Pirineo central). El objetivo de esta investigación es determinar los factores más importantes que explican la variabilidad de la infiltración: uso del suelo, tipo de cubierta vegetal, características del suelo y del substrato rocoso, humedad del suelo y…