Assessment of modified surface temperatures and solar reflectance using meteorological satellite and aircraft data

Changes in surface temperature resulting from the activities of man are evaluated using meteorological satellite (NOAA and HCMM) and aircraft data. Study sites were located in Florida and Michigan. Thermal data showed that day surface temperatures over large areas could be increased by 10–15°C by modifications resulting from agricultural practices. Changes in reflected solar radiation as a function of agricultural practices were detectable using HCMM data.     

A proportional counter/image intensifier system for the detection of low energy X-rays

Proportional counters (PC's) and gas scintillation proportional counters (GSPC's) currently used for detection of low energy X-rays provide information on event position and energy. Although at 1.5 keV PC's have good position resolution (～ 200 μm FWHM) they have relatively poor energy resolution (～ 40% FWHM). Conversely GSPC's have reasonable energy resolution (～ 20% FWHM), but poor spatial resolution (～ 1mm FWHM).We describe a scheme in which a parallel plate PC with a transparent anode deposited on a fibre optic substrate has been used. This allows the light emitted by electron avalanches caused by X-ray events in the PC to be detected by an image intensifier with electronic readout. Using this scheme spatial resolution better than that of conventional PC's should be attainable. In addition avalanches induced by single electrons can be resolved through observation of the time structure of the light flash. Using the ability to count the number of primary electrons created by each X-ray event, it is shown that energy resolution can be achieved which is comparable to that of the GSPC.