Long-term variations in the microwave brightness temperature of the Uranus atmosphere     

M.J. Klein 《Icarus》2006,184(1):170-180

We present a self-consistent, 36-year record of the disk-averaged radio brightness of Uranus at wavelengths near 3.5 cm. It covers nearly half a uranian year, and includes both equatorial and polar viewing geometries (corresponding to equinox and solstice, respectively). We find large (greater than 30 K) changes over this time span. In agreement with analyses made of more limited microwave data sets, our observations suggest the changes are not caused by geometric effects alone, and that temporal variations may exist in the deep uranian troposphere down to pressures of tens of bars. Our data also support an earlier suggestion that a rapid, planetary-scale change may have occurred in late 1993 and early 1994. The seasonal record presented here will be useful for constraining dynamical models of the deep atmosphere, and for interpreting observations made during Uranus' 2007 equinox passage. As part of a multi-wavelength observing campaign for this event, the Goldstone-Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT) project will continue to make frequent, single-dish observations near 3.5 cm.  相似文献   

GPS无线电掩星数据处理系统     

郭鹏徐会作   《中国科学院上海天文台年刊》2006,(1):118-128

GPS无线电掩星技术能提供高精度、高分辨率、全球覆盖的地球电离层和中性层大气剖面。它具有全天候、低费用、无系统长期漂移等优点。从1995年4月至1997年3月,首次GPS／MET试验的成功显示了GPS掩星技术对监测全球大气能够发挥重要的作用,从而成为当前空间探测技术的研究热点之一。该文主要叙述了无线电掩星技术的数据处理系统的有关情况,并介绍了美国UCAR的掩星数据处理系统CDAAC的概况,可作为我国开展无线电掩星计划有关工作的借鉴。  相似文献   

一个中小型抛射的精细结构观测——太阳低层大气磁重联的证据     

张延安  宋慕陶  季海生 《天文学报》2002,43(2):155-159,T001,T002

2000年6月18日中国科学院紫金山天文台赣榆观测站观测到太阳西边缘一个小型抛射现象，寿命仅15^m，不属于耀斑的后期抛射现象，可看到十发精细的螺旋结构。用低层大气磁重联提供的初速约100kg/s，在略骈劳伦兹力情况下，给出了准均匀密度抛射柱所能达到的高度，和观测值一致。  相似文献   

丽江高美古的二期选址--望远镜地面高度的确定     

钱铜铃  汪从云  岑学奋  王建成 《天文研究与技术》2003,(2):75-81

在丽江高美古前期选址工作的基础上[1～2],二期选址的望远镜地面高度的确定工作于2000年11月3日至2000年12月16日进行,采用30m铁塔的温度脉动测量装置,对6#选址观测点的近地面大气湍流进行反复多次测量,得到近地面不同高度(4～30m和8～22m)上每夜温度结构系数C2T的平均值,对观测取得的资料作进一步处理和分析,得到高美古6#观测点的望远镜地面高度为13～15m。  相似文献   

3. Solar System Formation and Early Evolution: the First 100 Million Years     

Thierry Montmerle  Jean-Charles Augereau  Marc Chaussidon  Mathieu Gounelle  Bernard Marty  Alessandro Morbidelli 《Earth, Moon, and Planets》2006,98(1-4):39-95

The solar system, as we know it today, is about 4.5 billion years old. It is widely believed that it was essentially completed 100 million years after the formation of the Sun, which itself took less than 1 million years, although the exact chronology remains highly uncertain. For instance: which, of the giant planets or the terrestrial planets, formed first, and how? How did they acquire their mass? What was the early evolution of the “primitive solar nebula” (solar nebula for short)? What is its relation with the circumstellar disks that are ubiquitous around young low-mass stars today? Is it possible to define a “time zero” (t ₀), the epoch of the formation of the solar system? Is the solar system exceptional or common? This astronomical chapter focuses on the early stages, which determine in large part the subsequent evolution of the proto-solar system. This evolution is logarithmic, being very fast initially, then gradually slowing down. The chapter is thus divided in three parts: (1) The first million years: the stellar era. The dominant phase is the formation of the Sun in a stellar cluster, via accretion of material from a circumstellar disk, itself fed by a progressively vanishing circumstellar envelope. (2) The first 10 million years: the disk era. The dominant phase is the evolution and progressive disappearance of circumstellar disks around evolved young stars; planets will start to form at this stage. Important constraints on the solar nebula and on planet formation are drawn from the most primitive objects in the solar system, i.e., meteorites. (3) The first 100 million years: the “telluric” era. This phase is dominated by terrestrial (rocky) planet formation and differentiation, and the appearance of oceans and atmospheres.  相似文献   

Atmospheric variations and meteorite production on Mars     

John E. Chappelow  Virgil L. Sharpton 《Icarus》2006,184(2):424-435

Through a combination of aerobraking (drag deceleration) and ablation, meteoroids which enter planetary atmospheres may be slowed sufficiently to soft-land as meteorites. Results of an earlier study suggest that the current 6 mbar atmosphere of Mars is sufficient to aerobrake significant numbers of small (<10 kg) asteroidal-type meteoroids into survivable, low-velocity (<500 m s⁻¹) impacts with the planet's surface. Since rates of meteorite production depend upon the density of Mars's atmosphere, they must also change as the martian climate changes. However, to date, martian meteorite production has received relatively little attention in the literature Here we expand upon our previous work to study martian meteorite production rates and how they depend upon variations of the martian atmosphere, and to estimate the ranges of mass, velocity and entry-angle that produce meteorites. We find that even the current atmosphere of Mars is sufficient to soft-land significant fractions of incident stony and iron objects, and that these fractions increase dramatically for denser martian atmospheres. Therefore, like impact cratering, meteorite populations may preserve evidence of past martian climates.  相似文献   

Cassini CIRS retrievals of ammonia in Jupiter's upper troposphere     

Richard K. Achterberg  Barney J. Conrath 《Icarus》2006,182(1):169-180

The zonal mean ammonia abundance on Jupiter between the 400- and 500-mbar pressure levels is inferred as a function of latitude from Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer data. Near the Great Red Spot, the ammonia abundance is mapped as a function of latitude and longitude. The Equatorial Zone is rich in ammonia, with a relative humidity near unity. The North and South Equatorial Belts are depleted relative to the Equatorial Zone by an order of magnitude. The Great Red Spot shows a local maximum in the ammonia abundance. Ammonia abundance is highly correlated with temperature perturbations at the same altitude. Under the assumption that anomalies in ammonia and temperature are both perturbed from equilibrium by vertical motion, we find that the adjustment time constant for ammonia equilibration is about one third of the radiative time constant.  相似文献   

Thick and thin models of the evolution of carbon dioxide on Mars     

Curtis V. Manning  Christopher P. McKay 《Icarus》2006,180(1):38-59

We present results from a new simulation code that accounts for the evolution of the reservoirs of carbon dioxide on Mars, from its early years to the present. We establish a baseline model parameter set that produces results compatible with the present (i.e., Patm?6.5 mbar with permanent CO₂ ice cap) for a wide range of initial inventories. We find that the initial inventory of CO₂ broadly determines the evolutionary course of the reservoirs of CO₂. The reservoirs include the atmosphere, ice cap, adsorbed CO₂ in the regolith, and carbonate rocks. We track the evolution of the free inventory: the atmosphere, ice cap and regolith. Simulations begin at 4.53 Gyr before present with a rapid loss of free inventory to space in the early Noachian. Models that assume a relatively small initial inventory (?5 bar) have pronounced minima in the free inventory of CO₂ toward the end of the Noachian. Under baseline parameters, initial inventories below ∼4.5 bar result in a catastrophic loss of the free inventory to space. The current free inventory would be then determined by the balance between outgassing, sputtering losses and chemical weathering following the end of the late bombardment. We call these “thin” models. They generically predict small current free inventories in line with expectations of a small present CO₂ ice cap. For “thick” models, with initial inventories ?5 bar, a surplus of 300-700 mbar of free CO₂ remains during the late-Noachian. The histories of free inventory in time for thick models tend to converge within the last 3.5 Gyr toward a present with an ice cap plus atmospheric inventory of about 100 mbar. For thick models, the convergence is largely due to the effects of chemical weathering, which draws down higher free inventories more rapidly than the low. Thus, thick models have ?450 mbar carbonate reservoirs, while thin models have ?200 mbar. Though both thick and thin scenarios can reproduce the current atmospheric pressure, the thick models imply a relatively large current CO₂ ice cap and thin models, little or none. While the sublimation of a massive cap at a high obliquity would create a climate swing of greenhouse warming for thick models, under the thin model, mean temperatures and pressures would be essentially unaffected by increases in obliquity.  相似文献   

Comparison between polar regions of Mars from HEND/Odyssey data     

M.L. Litvak  I.G. Mitrofanov  A.B. Sanin  W.V. Boynton  D. Hamara  R.S. Saunders 《Icarus》2006,180(1):23-37

In this paper, we have analyzed neutron spectroscopy data gathered by the High Energy Neutron Detector (HEND) instrument onboard Mars Odyssey for comparison of polar regions. It is known that observation of the neutron albedo of Mars provides important information about the distribution of water-ice in subsurface layers and about peculiarities of the CO₂ seasonal cycle. It was found that there are large water-rich permafrost areas with contents of up to ∼50% water by mass fraction at both the north and south Mars polar regions. The water-ice layers at high northern latitudes are placed close to the surface, but in the south they are covered by a dry and relatively thick (10-20 cm) layer of soil. Analysis of temporal variations of neutron flux between summer and winter seasons allowed the estimation of the masses of the CO₂ deposits which seasonally condense at the polar regions. The total mass of the southern seasonal deposition was estimated as 6.3×¹⁰¹⁵ kg, which is larger than the total mass of the seasonal deposition at the north by 40-50%. These results are in good agreement with predictions from the NASA Ames Research Center General Circulation Model (GCM). But, the dynamics of the condensation and sublimation processes are not quite as consistent with these models: the peak accumulation of the condensed mass of CO₂ occurred 10-15 degrees of Ls later than is predicted by the GCM.  相似文献   

空间数据计算模式分析与应用     

明冬萍  骆剑承  周成虎  沈占锋  李均力  盛昊 《地球信息科学学报》2006,8(2):84-90

随着传感器和其他数据采集技术的不断进步以及对地观测网络的建设和启动,空间数据的高性能处理和分析成为摆在地学工作者面前的瓶颈。本文以此为出发点,按照不同地学领域(陆地、大气、海洋)的空间数据载体的形态的不同,将空间数据划分为反映固态基质信息的陆地空间数据,反映液态基质信息的陆地水文空间数据,反映液态基质信息的海洋流体空间数据和反映气态基质信息的大气流体空间数据四类,并对每类数据的最小单元问题进行了初步的分析。本文详细阐述了地学空间计算的涵义,并根据计算行为模式及计算的侧重点的不同,将地学计算过程分为深度计算过程与主动计算过程(即“数据→特征→知识”的一般计算过程),并就此进行了阐释。以基于特征的遥感信息提取和目标识别工作为例,对上述理论进行了说明和验证。最后对空间数据计算模式相关问题进行了总结,并对以后的研究做了展望。  相似文献