The CARES campaign was conducted during June, 2010 in the vicinity of Sacramento, California to study aerosol formation and aging in a region where anthropogenic and biogenic emissions regularly mix. ...Here, we describe measurements from an Aerodyne High Resolution Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS), an Ionicon Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS), and trace gas detectors (CO, NO, NO sub(x)) deployed on the G-1 research aircraft to investigate ambient gas- and particle-phase chemical composition. AMS measurements showed that the particle phase is dominated by organic aerosol (OA) (85% on average) with smaller concentrations of sulfate (5%), nitrate (6%) and ammonium (3%) observed. PTR-MS data showed that isoprene dominated the biogenic volatile organic compound concentrations (BVOCs), with monoterpene concentrations generally below the detection limit. Using two different metrics, median OA concentrations and the slope of plots of OA vs. CO concentrations (i.e., Delta OA/ Delta CO), we contrast organic aerosol evolution on flight days with different prevailing meteorological conditions to elucidate the role of anthropogenic and biogenic emissions on OA formation. Airmasses influenced predominantly by biogenic emissions had median OA concentrations of 2.2 mu g m super(-3) and near zero Delta OA/ Delta CO. Those influenced predominantly by anthropogenic emissions had median OA concentrations of 4.7 mu g m super(-3) and Delta OA/ Delta CO ratios of 35-44 mu g m super(-3) ppmv. But, when biogenic and anthropogenic emissions mixed, OA levels were enhanced, with median OA concentrations of 11.4 mu g m super(-3) and Delta OA/ Delta CO ratios of 77-157 mu g m super(-3) ppmv. Taken together, our observations show that production of OA was enhanced when anthropogenic emissions from Sacramento mixed with isoprene-rich air from the foothills. After considering several anthropogenic/biogenic interaction mechanisms, we conclude that NO sub(x) concentrations play a strong role in enhancing SOA formation from isoprene, though the chemical mechanism for the enhancement remains unclear. If these observations are found to be robust in other seasons and in areas outside of Sacramento, regional and global aerosol modules will need to incorporate more complex representations of NO sub(x)-dependent SOA mechanisms and yields into their algorithms. Ultimately, accurately predicting OA mass concentrations and their effect on radiation balance will require a mechanistically-based treatment of the interactions of biogenic and anthropogenic emissions.
Fifteen months of cumulative CoGeNT data are examined for indications of an annual modulation, a predicted signature of weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) interactions. Presently available ...data support the presence of a modulated component of unknown origin, with parameters prima facie compatible with a galactic halo composed of light-mass WIMPs. Unoptimized estimators yield a statistical significance for a modulation of ∼2.8σ, limited by the short exposure.
We report on several features in the energy spectrum from an ultralow-noise germanium detector operated deep underground. By implementing a new technique able to reject surface events, a number of ...cosmogenic peaks can be observed for the first time. We discuss an irreducible excess of bulklike events below 3 keV in ionization energy. These could be caused by unknown backgrounds, but also dark matter interactions consistent with DAMA/LIBRA. It is not yet possible to determine their origin. Improved constraints are placed on a cosmological origin for the DAMA/LIBRA effect.
An Aerodyne high resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) was deployed during the Carbonaceous Aerosols and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) that took place in northern ...California in June 2010. We present results obtained at Cool (denoted as the T1 site of the project) in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where intense biogenic emissions are periodically mixed with urban outflow transported by daytime southwesterly winds from the Sacramento metropolitan area. During this study, the average mass loading of submicrometer particles (PM1) was 3.0 μg m−3, dominated by organics (80%) and sulfate (9.9%). The organic aerosol (OA) had a nominal formula of C1H1.38N0.004OM0.44, thus an average organic mass-to-carbon (OM/OC) ratio of 1.70. Two distinct oxygenated OA factors were identified via Positive matrix factorization (PMF) of the high-resolution mass spectra of organics. The more oxidized MO-OOA (O/C = 0.54) was interpreted as a surrogate for secondary OA (SOA) influenced by biogenic emissions whereas the less oxidized LO-OOA (O/C = 0.42) was found to represent SOA formed in photochemically processed urban emissions. LO-OOA correlated strongly with ozone and MO-OOA correlated well with two 1st generation isoprene oxidation products (methacrolein and methyl vinyl ketone), indicating that both SOAs were relatively fresh. A hydrocarbon like OA (HOA) factor was also identified, representing primary emissions mainly due to local traffic. On average, SOA (= MO-OOA + LO-OOA) accounted for 91% of the total OA mass and 72% of the PM1 mass observed at Cool. Twenty three periods of urban plumes from T0 (Sacramento) to T1 (Cool) were identified using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem). The average PM1 mass loading was considerably higher in urban plumes than in air masses dominated by biogenic SOA. The change in OA mass relative to CO (ΔOA/ΔCO) varied in the range of 5-196 μg m−3 ppm−1, reflecting large variability in SOA production. The highest ΔOA/ΔCO was reached when air masses were dominated by anthropogenic emissions in the presence of a high concentration of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs). This ratio, which was 97 μg m−3 ppm−1 on average, was much higher than when urban plumes arrived in a low BVOC environment (~36 μg m−3 ppm−1) or during other periods dominated by biogenic SOA (35 μg m−3 ppm−1). These results demonstrate that SOA formation is enhanced when anthropogenic emissions interact with biogenic precursors.
A claim for evidence of dark matter interactions in the DAMA experiment has been recently reinforced. We employ a new type of germanium detector to conclusively rule out a standard isothermal ...galactic halo of weakly interacting massive particles as the explanation for the annual modulation effect leading to the claim. Bounds are similarly imposed on a suggestion that dark pseudoscalars might lead to the effect. We describe the sensitivity to light dark matter particles achievable with our device, in particular, to next-to-minimal supersymmetric model candidates.
SCISAT‐1, also known as the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE), is a Canadian satellite mission for remote sensing of the Earth's atmosphere. It was launched into low Earth circular orbit ...(altitude 650 km, inclination 74°) on 12 Aug. 2003. The primary ACE instrument is a high spectral resolution (0.02 cm−1) Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) operating from 2.2 to 13.3 μm (750–4400 cm−1). The satellite also features a dual spectrophotometer known as MAESTRO with wavelength coverage of 285–1030 nm and spectral resolution of 1–2 nm. A pair of filtered CMOS detector arrays records images of the Sun at 0.525 and 1.02 μm. Working primarily in solar occultation, the satellite provides altitude profile information (typically 10–100 km) for temperature, pressure, and the volume mixing ratios for several dozen molecules of atmospheric interest, as well as atmospheric extinction profiles over the latitudes 85°N to 85°S. This paper presents a mission overview and some of the first scientific results.
Black carbon (BC) concentrations observed in 22 snowpits sampled in the northwest sector of the Greenland ice sheet in April 2014 have allowed us to identify a strong and widespread BC aerosol ...deposition event, which was dated to have accumulated in the pits from two snow storms between 27 July and 2 August 2013. This event comprises a significant portion (57 on average across all pits) of total BC deposition over 10 months (July 2013 to April 2014). Here we link this deposition event to forest fires burning in Canada during summer 2013 using modeling and remote sensing tools. Aerosols were detected by both the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (on board CALIPSO) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (Aqua) instruments during transport between Canada and Greenland. We use high-resolution regional chemical transport modeling (WRF-Chem) combined with high-resolution fire emissions (FINNv1.5) to study aerosol emissions, transport, and deposition during this event. The model captures the timing of the BC deposition event and shows that fires in Canada were the main source of deposited BC. However, the model underpredicts BC deposition compared to measurements at all sites by a factor of 2100. Underprediction of modeled BC deposition originates from uncertainties in fire emissions and model treatment of wet removal of aerosols. Improvements in model descriptions of precipitation scavenging and emissions from wildfires are needed to correctly predict deposition, which is critical for determining the climate impacts of aerosols that originate from fires.
Measurements of magnetic torque are most commonly preformed about a single axis or component of torque. Such measurements are very useful for hysteresis measurements of thin film structures in ...particular, where high shape anisotropy yields a near-proportionality of in-plane magnetic moment and the magnetic torque along the perpendicular in-plane axis. A technique to measure the full magnetic torque vector (three orthogonal torque components) on micro- and nano-scale magnetic materials is introduced. The method is demonstrated using a modified, single-paddle silicon-on-insulator resonant torque sensor. The mechanical compliances to all three orthogonal torque components are maximized by clamping the sensor at a single point. Mechanically-resonant AC torques are driven by an RF field containing a frequency component for each fundamental torsional mode of the device, and the resulting displacements read out through optical position-sensitive detection. Measurements are compared against micromagnetic simulations of mechanical torque to augment the interpretation of the signals. As an application example, simultaneous observations of hysteresis in the net magnetization along with the field-dependent in-plane anisotropy is highly beneficial for studies of exchange bias.
We present the results of the first Dalitz plot analysis of the decay D 0 → K-π +η. The analysis is performed on a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 953 fb-1 collected by the ...Belle detector at the asymmetric-energy e+e- KEKB collider. The Dalitz plot is well described by a combination of the six resonant decay channels K- * (892)0 η, K-a0(980)+, K-a2(1320)+, K¯ * (1410)0 η, K* (1680)-π + and K* 2 (1980)-π +, together with Kπ and Kη S-wave components. The decays K* (1680)- → K-η and K* 2 (1980)- → K-η are observed for the first time. We measure ratio of the branching fractions, B(D0→K-π+η) B(D0→K=π+) = 0.500 ± 0.002(stat) ± 0.020(syst) ± 0.003(BPDG). Using the Dalitz fit result, the ratio B(K*(1680)→Kη) B(K*(1680)→Kπ) is measured to be 0.11±0.02(stat)+0.06 =0.04(syst)± 0.04(BPDG); this is much lower than the theoretical expectations (≈ 1) made under the assumption that K* (1680) is a pure 1 3D1 state. The product branching fraction B(D 0 → K* 2 (1980)- → K-ηπ +) = (2.2 +1.7 -1.9 ) × 10-4 is determined. In addition, the πη' contribution to the a0(980)± resonance shape is confirmed with 10.1σ statistical significance using the three-channel Flatté model. We also measure B(D 0 → K¯ * (892)0 η) = (1.41+0.13 -0.12)%. This is consistent with, and more precise than, the current world average (1.02 ± 0.30)%, deviates with a significance of more than 3σ from the theoretical predictions of (0.51-0.92)%.
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