Development of the HEFT and NuSTAR focusing telescopes     

Fiona A. Harrison  Finn E. Christensen  William Craig  Charles Hailey  Wayne Baumgartner  C. M. H. Chen  James Chonko  W. Rick Cook  Jason Koglin  Kristin-Kruse Madsen  Michael Pivavoroff  Steven Boggs  David Smith 《Experimental Astronomy》2005,20(1-3):131-137

Hard X-ray/soft gamma-ray astrophysics is on the verge of a major advance with the practical realization of technologies capable of efficiently focusing X-rays above 10 keV. Hard X-ray focusing telescopes can achieve orders of magnitude improvements in sensitivity compared to the instruments based on coded apertures and collimated detectors that have traditionally been employed in this energy band. Compact focal planes enable high-performance detectors with good spectral resolution to be employed in efficient, low-background configurations. We have developed multilayer coated grazing incidence optics and solid state Cadmium Zinc Telluride focal plane systems for the High Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT) balloon-borne experiment, and for the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Small Explorer satellite. In this paper we describe the technologies, telescope designs, and performance of both experiments.  相似文献   

FULBRIGHT PROGRAM OPPORTUNITIES FOR GEOGRAPHERS*     

Wayne McKim 《The Professional geographer》1989,41(1):15-19

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Distinguishing Carbonate Reservoir Pore Facies with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Measurements   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Coralie Genty  Jerry L. Jensen  Wayne M. Ahr 《Natural Resources Research》2007,16(1):45-54

  Characterization of carbonate rocks may involve identifying the important pore types which are present. In the past, this task has required detailed petrographic analysis of many core samples. Here, we describe a method which uses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements to reduce the amount of petrographic analysis needed for porosity typing of carbonate reservoir rocks. For a rock sample which has been measured with NMR, our method decomposes the log(T₂) spectrum into at most three Gaussian-shaped components and gives a set of nine parameters. Two characteristic quantities having geological significance are extracted from the nine parameters. Values of the two quantities are compared with a reference set, established from samples having both NMR and petrographic evaluations of porosity types. We use a Bayesian approach to the classification of the dominant porosity type. Tests of our method on 103 samples show a correct prediction in 60 to 90 percent of the samples. The lower success rate was obtained for samples with five porosity types from three fields; the higher success rate obtained with samples with three porosity types from one well. The use of geologically significant quantities extracted from the decomposition gives comparable success rate to those obtained using a standard, non-geological approach such as canonical variates.  相似文献   

"The Bush is No More": Insights on Institutional Change and Natural Resource Availability in Rural South Africa     

Kirkland T  Hunter LM  Twine W 《社会与自然资源》2007,20(4):337-350

The past decade has brought substantial transition to South Africa. The introduction of democracy in 1994 has yielded important political and socioeconomic transformations affecting millions of people. Here, we explore the impact of institutional and structural changes on the availability and management of fuelwood, a key natural resource in rural South Africa. As in other developing regions, many households depend on natural resources for both sustenance and energy needs. Drawing on qualitative data from 32 interviews, our objective is to describe, from the perspective of the respondents, (1) resource scarcity, (2) the underlying causes of resource scarcity, (3) the role of traditional authority in managing resources, and (4) strategies used by community members in the face of resource scarcity. The results have important implications for the well-being of both social and natural systems in many transitional, rural developing societies.  相似文献   

A review of water column processes influencing hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Michael J. Dagg  James W. Ammerman  Rainer M. W. Amon  Wayne S. Gardner  Rebecca E. Green  Steven E. Lohrenz 《Estuaries and Coasts》2007,30(5):735-752

In this review, we use data from field measurements of biogeochemical processes and cycles in the Mississippi River plume and in other shelf regions of the northern Gulf of Mexico to determine plume contributions to coastal hypoxia. We briefly review pertinent findings from these process studies, review recent mechanistic models that synthesize these processes to address hypoxia-related issues, and reinterpret current understanding in the context of these mechanistic models. Some of our conclusions are that both nitrogen and phosphorus are sometimes limiting to phytoplankton growth; respiration is the main fate of fixed carbon in the plume, implying that recycling is the main fate of nitrogen; decreasing the river nitrate loading results in less than a 1:1 decrease in organic matter sinking from the plume; and sedimenting organic matter from the Mississippi River plume can only fuel about 23% of observed coastal hypoxia, suggesting significant contributions from the Atchafalaya River and, possibly, coastal wetlands. We also identify gaps in our knowledge about controls on hypoxia, and indicate that some reinterpretation of our basic assumptions about this system is required. There are clear needs for improved information on the sources, rates, and locations of organic matter sedimentation; for further investigation of internal biogeochemical processes and cycling; for improved understanding of the rates of oxygen diffusion across the pycnocline; for identification and quantification of other sources of organic matter fueling hypoxia or other mechanisms by which Mississippi River derived organic matter fuels hypoxia; and for the development of a fully coupled physical-biogeochemical model.  相似文献   

Issues in sediment toxicity and ecological risk assessment   总被引：8，自引：0，他引：8  

Chapma PM  Ho KT  Munns WR  Solomon K  Weinstein MP 《Marine pollution bulletin》2002,44(4):271-278

This paper is based on a facilitated Workshop and Roundtable Discussion of key issues in sediment toxicology and ecological risk assessment (ERA) as applied to sediments that was held at the Conference on Dredged Material Management: Options and Environmental Considerations. The issues addressed included how toxicity is defined and perceived, how it is measured, and how it should be used within the context of ERA to support management decisions. The following conclusions were reached regarding scientific considerations of these issues. Toxicity is a measure of hazard and not a risk per se. Thus, toxicity testing is a means but not the end to understand risks of sediments. Toxicity testing cannot presently be replaced by chemical analyses to define hazard. Toxicity test organisms need to be appropriate to the problem being addressed, and the results put into context relative to both reference and baseline comparisons to understand hazard. Use of toxicity tests in sediment ERAs requires appropriate endpoints and risk hypotheses, considering ecological not just statistical significance, and recognizing that hazard does not equate to risk. Toxicity should be linked to population and community response to support decision-making, assessing possible genotypic adaptations that can influence risk estimates, and addressing uncertainty. Additionally, several key scientific issues were identified to improve future sediment ERAs, including the need to improve basic understanding of ecological mechanisms and processes, recognition of variability in the assessment process, and an improved focus and ability to assess risks to populations and communities.  相似文献   

The sensitivity of seafloor compliance to two-dimensional low-velocity anomalies   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Tom Hulme  Wayne C. Crawford  S. C. Singh 《Geophysical Journal International》2005,163(2):547-558

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长江口潮滩有机质来源的C、N稳定同位素示踪   总被引：25，自引：0，他引：25  

刘敏  侯立军  许世远  欧冬妮  蒋海燕  余婕  Gardner Wayne S 《地理学报》2004,59(6):918-926

依据长江河口潮滩自然环境特征和受人文活动影响的差异性,沿长江河口南岸潮滩选取了12个典型的监测站位,并分别于洪水季节 (7月份) 和枯水季节 (2月份) 在各监测站位进行了表层 (0~2 cm) 沉积物样品的采集。对表层沉积物有机质中稳定碳、氮同位素进行分析与测试发现,7月份稳定碳同位素值普遍低于2月份的稳定碳同位素值,其变化范围分别为 -29.8‰ ~ -23.7‰和-27.3‰ ~ -25.6‰;7月份和2月份稳定氮同位素分别为1.0‰ ~ 5.5‰和1.7‰~ 7.8‰。研究区域内,稳定碳、氮同位素的地区分布和季节变化特征揭示,有机质中的稳定碳、氮同位素组成不仅受陆源和海源有机质输入量之间消长变化的影响,同时一系列的生物地球化学过程、人为有机质的输入和沉积物粒度与叶绿素对碳、氮同位素组成均存在不同程度的改造作用。此外,利用稳定碳同位素质量平衡混合模型,还对陆源有机质输入量的贡献率进行了初步定量估算。  相似文献   

Stability of massive ground ice bodies in University Valley,McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica: Using stable O–H isotope as tracers of sublimation in hyper-arid regions     

Denis Lacelle  Alfonso F. Davila  Wayne H. Pollard  Dale Andersen  Jennifer Heldmann  Margarita Marinova  Christopher P. McKay 《Earth and Planetary Science Letters》2011,301(1-2):403-411

To date, studies of the stability of subsurface ice in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica have been mainly based on climate-based vapor diffusion models. In University Valley (1800 m), a small glacier is found at the base of the head of the valley, and adjacent to the glacier, a buried body of massive ice was uncovered beneath 20–40 cm of loose cryotic sediments and sandstone boulders. This study assesses the origin and stability of the buried body of massive ice by measuring the geochemistry and stable O–H isotope composition of the ice and applies a sublimation and molecular diffusion model that accounts for the observed trends. The results indicate that the buried massive ice body represents an extension of the adjacent glacier that was buried by a rock avalanche during a cold climate period. The contrasting δ¹⁸O profiles and regression slope values between the uppermost 6 cm of the buried massive ice (upward convex δ¹⁸O profile and S_D-18O = 5.1) and that below it (progressive increase in δ¹⁸O and S_D-18O = 6.4) suggest independent post-depositional processes affected the isotope composition of the ice. The upward convex δ¹⁸O profile in the uppermost 6 cm is consistent with the ice undergoing sublimation. Using a sublimation and molecular diffusion model, and assuming that diffusion occurred through solid ice, the sublimation rate needed to fit the measured δ¹⁸O profile is 0.2 ? 10^? 3 mm yr^? 1, a value that is more similar to net ice removal rates derived from ³He data from cobbles in Beacon Valley till (7.0 ? 10^? 3 mm yr^? 1) than sublimation rates computed based on current climate (0.1–0.2 mm yr^?1). We suggest that the climate-based sublimation rates are offset due to potential ice recharge mechanisms or to missing parameters, particularly the nature and thermo-physical properties of the overlying sediments (i.e., temperature, humidity, pore structure and ice content, grain size).  相似文献   

The effectiveness of double hulls in reducing vessel-accident oil spillage     

Yip TL  Talley WK  Jin D 《Marine pollution bulletin》2011,62(11):2427-2432

While much work has been done in investigating determinants of oil spillage attributed to vessel accidents, little research has been conducted on the effectiveness of ship hull design in reducing marine pollution. This paper addresses whether the double-hull requirement reduces vessel-accident oil spillage. The volume of oil spillage due to oil-cargo vessel accidents was investigated using tobit regressions and an empirical data set of individual vessel accident pollution incidents investigated by the US Coast Guard from 2001 to 2008. The results indicate that the double hull design on average reduces the size of oil spills by 20% and 62% in tank barge and tanker ship accidents, respectively.  相似文献