Search results for "OPTICS"

Autonomous marine hyperspectral radiometers for determining solar irradiances and aerosol optical properties

2017

We have developed two hyperspectral radiometer systems which require no moving parts, shade rings or motorised tracking, making them ideally suited for autonomous use in the inhospitable remote marine environment. Both systems are able to measure direct and diffuse hyperspectral irradiance in the wavelength range 350–1050 nm at 6 nm (Spectrometer 1) or 3.5 nm (Spectrometer 2) resolution. Marine field trials along a 100° transect (between 50° N and 50° S) of the Atlantic Ocean resulted in close agreement with existing commercially available instruments in measuring (1) photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), with both spectrometers giving regression slopes close to unity (Spectrometer …

Wavelength dependence of the effective cloud optical depth

2015

This study examines the wavelength dependence of cloud optical depth. To accomplish this task two different wavelength bands of the solar spectrum were considered in the cloud optical depth retrieval which was conducted in Valencia, Spain. The first retrieval used global irradiance measurements in the UVER range taken from a YES-UVB-1 radiometer in combination with multiple scattering model estimates; while the second retrieval was obtained in the Broadband range, with measurements of global solar surface irradiance from a CM6 pyranometer and a multiple scattering model. Whilst the dependence of the cloud optical depth (τ) on the wavelength is small, the best result was displayed by the SBD…

An analysis of VLF electric field spectra measured in Titan's atmosphere by the Huygens probe

2009

[1] A numerical simulation of Titan's electromagnetic cavity in the VLF band is carried out using the Transmission Line Matrix (TLM) method, with the aim of assessing the VLF electric field spectra sent by the Huygens probe. In an Earth-like model, successive peaks would be expected in the spectra, associated with multiple reflections of the electromagnetic wave on the external surfaces of Titan's electromagnetic cavity, formed by the ionosphere and a conductive ground or underground surface. However, owing to high losses conferred by the electrical conductivity to Titan's atmosphere, the direct numerical and experimental spectra are decreasing functions of the frequency without resonances …

Developments for vegetation fluorescence retrieval from spaceborne high-resolution spectrometry in the O2-A and O2-B absorption bands

2010

Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence is a weak electromagnetic signal emitted in the red and far-red spectral regions by vegetation chlorophyll under excitation by solar radiation. Chlorophyll fluorescence has been demonstrated to be a close proxy to vegetation physiological functioning. The basis for fluorescence retrieval from passive space measurements is the exploitation of the O2-A and O2-B atmospheric absorption features to isolate the fluorescence signal from the solar radiation reflected by the surface and the atmosphere. High spectral resolution measurements and a precise modeling of the atmospheric radiative transfer in the visible and near-infrared regions are mandatory. Recent…

A numerical study of atmospheric signals in the Earth-ionosphere electromagnetic cavity with the Transmission Line Matrix method

2006

[1] The effect of the Earth-ionosphere electromagnetic cavity on the spectrum of an atmospheric signal generated by a broadband electrical current source is analyzed numerically by means of the Transmission Line Matrix (TLM) method. Two new TLM meshes are developed, one with transmission lines connected in parallel and the other with connections in series. The equations describing propagation through these parallel or series meshes are equivalent to the Maxwell equations for TEr or TMr modes in the spherical Earth-ionosphere cavity, respectively. The numerical algorithm obtains Schumann resonance frequencies very close to the experimental ones, confirming that this methodology is a valid nu…

Intercomparison of spectroradiometers for global and direct solar irradiance in the visible range.

2003

This paper presents the results of the analysis of the spectral, global, and direct solar irradiance measurements in the visible range (400–700 nm) that were made in the framework of the first Iberian UV–visible (VIS) instruments intercomparison. The instruments used in this spectral range were four spectroradiometers: three Licor 1800s equipped with different receiver optics and one Optronic 754. For the direct solar irradiance measurements the spectroradiometers were equipped with collimators with different fields of view. Parallel studies have been carried out with the data given by the spectroradiometers with their original calibration file and with the same data that is corrected, foll…

Aerosol closure study by lidar, sun photometry, and airborne optical counters during DAMOCLES field campaign at El Arenosillo sounding station, Spain

2011

We present a comparison of aerosol properties derived from in situ and remote sensing instruments during DAMOCLES campaign, aimed at investigating the equivalence between the instrumentation and methodologies employed by several Spanish groups to study atmospheric aerosols at a regional background site. The complete set of instruments available during this closure experiment allowed collecting a valuable high-resolution aerosol measurement data set. The data set was augmented with airborne in situ measurements carried out in order to characterize aerosol particles during the midday of 29 June 2006. This work is focused on aerosol measurements using different techniques of high-quality instr…

Early detection of volcanic hazard by lidar measurement of carbon dioxide

2016

Volcanic gases give information on magmatic processes. In particular, anomalous releases of carbon dioxide precede volcanic eruptions. Up to now, this gas has been measured in volcanic plumes with conventional measurements that imply the severe risks of local sampling and can last many hours. For these reasons and for the great advantages of laser sensing, the thorough development of volcanic lidars has been undertaken at ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development). In fact, lidar profiling allows one to scan remotely volcanic plumes in a fast and continuous way, and with high spatial and temporal resolution. A differential absorption lid…

Application Of Microholography for Ground-based In Situ Measurements in Stratus Cloud Layers: A Case Study

1993

Abstract A holographic droplet and aerosol recording system (HODAR) has been designed and operated in situ in a low-level stratus cloud layer adopting the Fraunhofer in-line technique to measure sizes and velocity vectors of cloud droplets as well as to determine sizes and shapes of other hydrometeors (e.g., graupel). The particle-size radii covered by this ground-based instrument range from three to several hundred micrometers. A case study conducted on the Kleiner Feldberg Mountain Observatory near Frankfurt, Germany, during November 1990 documents the temporal evolution of the cloud-droplet size distribution over a period of 19 h during which the size distribution changed from monomodal …

2018

Abstract. Low planetary wave activity led to a stable vortex with exceptionally cold temperatures in the 2015–2016 Arctic winter. Extended areas with temperatures below the ice frost point temperature Tice persisted over weeks in the Arctic stratosphere as derived from the 36-year temperature climatology of the ERA-Interim reanalysis data set of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). These extreme conditions promoted the formation of widespread polar stratospheric ice clouds (ice PSCs). The space-borne Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument on board the CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) satellit…