Search results for "Planetary Science"

Aerosol Lidar Intercomparison in the Framework of SPALINET—The Spanish Lidar Network: Methodology and Results

2009

Abstract—A group of eight Spanish lidars was formed in order to extend the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network–Advanced Sustainable Observation System (EARLINET-ASOS)project. This study presents intercomparisons at the hardware and software levels. Results of the system intercomparisons are based on range-square-corrected signals in cases where the lidars viewed the same atmospheres. Comparisons were also made for aeros backscatter coefficients at 1064 nm (2 systems) and 532 nm (all systems), and for extinction coefficients at 532 nm (2 systems). In total, three field campaigns were carried out between 2006 and 2007. Comparisons were limited to the highest layer found before the free tr…

Aerosol optical characteristics from a summer campaign in an urban coastal Mediterranean area

2001

The authors present a preliminary study of some optical properties of atmospheric aerosols over the area of Valencia, Spain, a coastal Mediterranean city. Measurements of spectral direct irradiance in the 300-1100 nm range were taken simultaneously at three sites: rural-continental, rural-coastal, and urban-coastal, all located within a 50 km radius of the city of Valencia. The irradiance measurements were obtained using three Li-cor 1800 spectroradiometers provided with radiance limiting tubes with field of views (FOVs) of 4.7/spl deg/. The measurements were made under clear sky conditions during a field campaign carried out in the summer of 1998. In order to avoid the uncertainties associ…

Column aerosol characterization in a semi‐arid region around Marrakech during the WATERMED 2003 campaign

2008

In the framework of the WATERMED (WATer use efficiency in natural vegetation and agricultural areas by Remote sensing in the MEDiterranean basin) project, an experimental field campaign was carried out in a semi‐arid region near Marrakech, Morocco, during March 2003. This work focused on the columnar aerosol characterization from spectroradiometric and photometric measurements of direct solar irradiance and sky radiance at ground level. The results show a high dependence of the aerosol optical properties on the air masses present in the area. Two periods with different aerosol loads were observed in the campaign. In the first, Atlantic‐origin aerosols showed a marine particle accumulation m…

The Western Alps from the Jurassic to Oligocene: spatio-temporal constraints and evolutionary reconstructions

2005

Abstract Despite extensive research in the last 150 years, the regional tectonic reconstruction of the Western Alps has remained controversial. The curved orogenic belt consists of several ribbon-like continental terranes (Sesia/Austroalpine, Internal Crystalline Massifs, Brianconnais), which are separated by two or more ophiolitic sutures (Piemonte, Valais, Antrona?, Lanzo/Canavese?). High-pressure (HP) metamorphism of each terrane occurred during distinct orogenic episodes: at ∼65 Ma in the Sesia/Austroalpine, at ∼45 Ma in the Piemonte zone and at ∼35 Ma in the Internal Crystalline Massifs. It is suggested that these events reflect individual accretionary episodes, which together with kin…

Pan African plate tectonics and its repercussions on the crust of northeast Africa

1979

Pan African belts of the African mainland and the Arabian-Nubian Shield exhibit evolutionary features which are either compatible with intracontinental ensialic development or with plate margin and Wilson cycle tectonics during the time period ∼ 1100–500 Ma ago.

Tectonic control over large-scale diffuse degassing in eastern Sicily (Italy)

2002

Eastern Sicily (southern Italy) is characterised by the presence of many natural gas emissions (mofettes, mud volcanoes). These gases are mostly carbon dioxide and methane, with minor amounts of helium, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. In this study, the extent and orientation of soil gas anomalies (He and CO2) were investigated on a wide area (approximately 110 km2) located just SW of Mt. Etna. From a structural point of view, this area lays on a typical foredeep–foreland system that marks the boundary between the southern part of the Eurasian plate and the northern part of the African plate in the central Mediterranean. No tectonic structure was revealed in this area by surface…

Possible Association of Telomere Length with Sleep Duration. A Preliminary Pilot study in a Sicilian Cohort with Centenarians

2021

Telomere length (TL) is considered a biomarker of ageing although this topic is still debated. Also, sleep pattern changes are physiological part of the normal ageing process. In fact, it is widely recognized that sleep duration declines with age, leading to dysregulation of circadian rhythms. The aim of our study was to analyse the possible association of sleep duration with TL in a sample of 135 subjects with ages ranging from 20 to 111 years, recruited from Palermo and neighbouring municipalities in Sicily (Italy). Preliminary data suggest that relative TL (RTL) decreases with age in both men and women. However, at older ages, the difference between men and women tends to narrow. Nonagen…

The effect of agglomeration economies and geography on the survival of accommodation businesses in Sicily

2021

The study explores the geographical pattern of the accommodation industry in the Italian insular region of Sicily, focusing on the determinants of the risk of market exit. We adopt a standard framework of business survival analysis where agglomeration economies play an important role. We then extend the analysis by considering the role of geography to explore whether the risk of market exit depends on nearness to desirable amenities. The geography is here measured by the distance from the coast and the altitude of the place where the firm is located. When we look at the entire population of accommodation firms that started between 2010 and 2014, we find evidence that the risk of failure inc…

Evaluating functional connectivity in a small agricultural catchment under contrasting flood events by using UAV

2020

Earth system data cubes unravel global multivariate dynamics

2020

Understanding Earth system dynamics in light of ongoing human intervention and dependency remains a major scientific challenge. The unprecedented availability of data streams describing different facets of the Earth now offers fundamentally new avenues to address this quest. However, several practical hurdles, especially the lack of data interoperability, limit the joint potential of these data streams. Today, many initiatives within and beyond the Earth system sciences are exploring new approaches to overcome these hurdles and meet the growing interdisciplinary need for data-intensive research; using data cubes is one promising avenue. Here, we introduce the concept of Earth system data cu…