Search results for "Planetary Science"
showing 10 items of 4367 documents
Speleothem records decadal to multidecadal hydroclimate variations in southwestern Morocco during the last millennium
2017
Abstract This study presents the first well-dated high resolution stable isotope ( δ 18 O and δ 13 C ) and trace element (Mg and Sr) speleothem records from southwestern Morocco covering the last 1000 yrs. Our records reveal substantial decadal to multidecadal swings between dry and humid periods, consistent with regional paleorecords with prevailing dry conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), wetter conditions during the second part of the Little Ice Age (LIA), and a trend towards dry conditions during the current warm period. These coherent regional climate signals suggest common climate controls. Statistical analyses indicate that the climate of southwestern Morocco remaine…
Estimation of atmospheric water vapour content from direct measurements of radiance in the thermal infrared region
2012
Atmospheric water vapour content is a required parameter in thermal infrared (TIR) to carry out processes such as atmospheric correction or retrieving atmospheric factors (downwelling or upwelling irradiance, transmittance of the atmosphere and so on). This study proposes an alternative method to the ones already in use to measure water vapour content from direct measurements of downwelling atmospheric radiance in the TIR range. It was possible to estimate a linear relationship between atmospheric water vapour and downwelling atmospheric radiance using a simulated study, based on data from a radiosounding database. A subsequent validation concludes that it is possible to obtain water vapour…
Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM): State of the Art
2014
Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) mission is an ESA pay load which will be installed in the Columbus module of the International Space Station (ISS). ASIM is optimized to the observation and monitoring of luminescent phenomena in the upper atmosphere, the so called Transient Luminous Event (TLEs) and Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes(TGFs). Both TLEs and TGFs have been discovered recently (past two decades) and opened a new field of research in high energetic phenomena in the atmosphere. We will review the capabilities of ASIM and how it will help researchers to gain deeper knowledge of TGFs, TLEs, their inter-relationship and how they are linked to severe thunderstorms and the pheno…
Inadvertent climate modification due to anthropogenic lead
2009
Atmospheric particles are thought to initiate the majority of terrestrial precipitation. Field-based measurements of ice-crystal residues, together with controlled environment experiments on artificial clouds, suggest that anthropogenic lead-containing particles are among the most efficient ice-forming substances in the atmosphere.
On the atmospheric dependence of the split-window equation for land surface temperature
1994
Abstract A split-window equation is derived for land surface temperature, yielding T = T4 + A(T4 − T5) + B(e), where T is the true surface temperature, T4 and T5 are the brightness temperatures measured in AVHRR channels 4 and 5, A is a coefficient related to the atmospheric transmittances in AVHRR channels 4 and 5, being dependent on the atmosphere type and independent on surface emissivity, and B(e) takes into account the emissivity effect, which depends on both the channel surface emissivities (e4 and e5) and the atmosphere type. The atmospheric dependence of split-window coefficients, A and B(e), is discussed by means of satellite measurements simulations and in situ data. It is shown t…
Night-time cloud cover estimation
2004
In this paper a method for cloud cover assessment at night-time (when only thermal infrared data are available) is presented. It is based on the analysis of long wave radiation transfer processes in partially cloudy areas, which led to the formulation of a simplified model of the surface–cloud–atmosphere system. The model was implemented in an operational and iterative algorithm to solve the radiative equations. The algorithm was validated using ground data collected at four meteorological stations in Argentina during November 1997 and May–June 1998, which were compared to cloudiness derived from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer therma…
Atmospheric water vapour content retrieval from visible and thermal data in the framework of the DAISEX campaigns
2005
In this paper three methods are presented that retrieve the atmospheric water vapour from DAIS (digital airborne imaging spectrometer) data in the framework of the DAISEX (DAIS Experiment) campaigns carried out by ESA (European Space Agency). The three methodologies analysed in the paper are: (i) the ratio technique, in which the water vapour is obtained from visible and near‐infrared bands; (ii) the split‐window technique; and (iii) the split‐window covariance‐variance ratio technique, in which the water vapour content is retrieved from thermal infrared bands. A comparison between the atmospheric water vapour content extracted from the DAIS images using these techniques and that obtained f…
Biogeochemical Cycling of Nitrogen on the Early Earth
2013
Variations in the nitrogen isotope composition of ancient organic matter and associated sediments provide clues for the early evolution of Earth's atmosphere–ocean–biosphere system. In particular, large isotopic variations have been linked to the protracted oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere during the Precambrian. Important problems being investigated include the nature of the variations observed at specific times in Earth's history and the degree of preservation of ancient nitrogen biogeochemical signatures during diagenesis and metamorphism. Interpreting these records in Archean sedimentary environments and their possible implications for the evolution of Earth's early atmosphere, ocean, …
South East tropical Atlantic warm events and southern African rainfall
2003
[1] Intrusions of warm equatorial water in the South East Atlantic Ocean off Angola and Namibia may be linked with above average rainfall along the coast of those countries but sometimes also with inland areas of southern Africa e.g. Zambia. During the 1984, 1986, 1995 and 2001 warm events, above average rainfall occurred near the sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies and extended inland from the coast to an extent that appeared to depend on the intensity of the regional moisture convergence and atmospheric circulation anomalies. Rainfall over western Angola/Namibia is greatest for those events for which the local circulation anomalies act to strengthen the climatological westwards flux o…
Narrow-band to broad-band conversion for Meteosat-visiible channel and broad-band albedo using both AVHRR-1 and -2 channels
1995
Abstract Satellite-derived broad-band albedo offers a useful tool for monitoring surface conditions. Given the limited wavelength window of most satellite radiometers, satellite albedo studies need to define narrow-band to a broad-band transformations. Signals from the AVHRR channels on board the NOAA-11 satellite, the Meteosat visible channel and a rectangular spectral band from 0-3 to 2.5 μm were simulated for a set of 20 representative land surfaces. The radiative transfer code described in Tanre et al. (1990) was used to obtain top of the atmosphere radiances. The derived signals were then correlated to predict broadband albedo and the Meteosal response via the two AVHRR signals. The re…