Aerosols and clouds in the upper troposphere–lower stratosphere region detected by GOMOS and ACE: Intercomparison and analysis of the years 2004 and 2005

Satellite-based limb occultation measurements are well suited for the detection and mapping of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) and cirrus clouds. PSCs are of fundamental importance for the formation of the Antarctic ozone hole that occurs every year since the early 1980s in Southern Hemisphere spring. Despite progress in the observation, modeling and understanding of PSCs in recent years, there are still important questions which remain to be resolved, e.g. PSC microphysics, composition, formation mechanisms and long-term changes in occurrence. In addition, it has recently become clear that cirrus clouds significantly affect the global energy balance and climate, due to their influence on atmospheric thermal structure.     

Mars Phobos and Deimos Survey (M-PADS) – A martian Moons orbiter and Phobos lander

We describe a Mars ‘Micro Mission’ for detailed study of the martian satellites Phobos and Deimos. The mission involves two ∼330 kg spacecraft equipped with solar electric propulsion to reach Mars orbit. The two spacecraft are stacked for launch: an orbiter for remote investigation of the moons and in situ studies of their environment in Mars orbit, and another carrying a lander for in situ measurements on the surface of Phobos (or alternatively Deimos). Phobos and Deimos remain only partially studied, and Deimos less well than Phobos. Mars has almost always been the primary mission objective, while the more dedicated Phobos project (1988–89) failed to realise its full potential. Many questions remain concerning the moons’ origins, evolution, physical nature and composition. Current missions, such as Mars Express, are extending our knowledge of Phobos in some areas but largely neglect Deimos. The objectives of M-PADS focus on: origins and evolution, interactions with Mars, volatiles and interiors, surface features, and differences. The consequent measurement requirements imply both landed and remote sensing payloads. M-PADS is expected to accommodate a 60 kg orbital payload and a 16 kg lander payload. M-PADS resulted from a BNSC-funded study carried out in 2003 to define candidate Mars Micro Mission concepts for ESA’s Aurora programme.     

Models of CN and C_2 Comae for Comets Tago-Sato-Kosaka (19691X) and Bennett (197011)

In this paper, CN and C2 isophotes of both comets Tago-Sato-Kosaka (1969Ⅸ) and Bennett (1970Ⅱ) obtained by J. Rahe are used to obtain their average radial intensity distributions. Using Haser's formula, scale lengths of daughter and its parent molecules have been obtained by comparision of observation with theory. Reduced to the heliocentric distance r = 1AU, scale lengths of both daughter (β0-1) and its parent (β1-1) molecules are obtained as follow:     

Effects of space weather on the ionosphere and LEO satellites’ orbital trajectory in equatorial,low and middle latitude

We study the effects of space weather on the ionosphere and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites’ orbital trajectory in equatorial, low- and mid-latitude (EQL, LLT and MLT) regions during (and around) the notable storms of October/November, 2003. We briefly review space weather effects on the thermosphere and ionosphere to demonstrate that such effects are also latitude-dependent and well established. Following the review we simulate the trend in variation of satellite’s orbital radius (r), mean height (h) and orbit decay rate (ODR) during 15 October–14 November 2003 in EQL, LLT and MLT. Nominal atmospheric drag on LEO satellite is usually enhanced by space weather or solar-induced variations in thermospheric temperature and density profile. To separate nominal orbit decay from solar-induced accelerated orbit decay, we compute $r\text{,}h$ and ODR in three regimes viz. (i) excluding solar indices (or effect), where $r=r_0\text{,}h=h_0$ and $\mathit{ODR}={\mathit{ODR}}_0$ (ii) with mean value of solar indices for the interval, where $r=r_m\text{,}h=h_m$ and $\mathit{ODR}={\mathit{ODR}}_m$ and (iii) with actual daily values of solar indices for the interval ($r\text{,}h$ and ODR). For a typical LEO satellite at h?=?450?km, we show that the total decay in r during the period is about 4.20?km, 3.90?km and 3.20?km in EQL, LLT and MLT respectively; the respective nominal decay ($r_0$) is 0.40?km, 0.34?km and 0.22?km, while solar-induced orbital decay ($r_m$) is about 3.80?km, 3.55?km and 2.95?km. h also varied in like manner. The respective nominal ${\mathit{ODR}}_0$ is about 13.5?m/day, 11.2?m/day and 7.2?m/day, while solar-induced ${\mathit{ODR}}_m$ is about 124.3?m/day, 116.9?m/day and 97.3?m/day. We also show that severe geomagnetic storms can increase ODR by up to 117% (from daily mean value). However, the extent of space weather effects on LEO Satellite’s trajectory significantly depends on the ballistic co-efficient and orbit of the satellite, and phase of solar cycles, intensity and duration of driving (or influencing) solar event.     

Microwave Brightness Temperature and Lunar Soil Dielectric Property Retrieve

Among many scientific objectives of lunar exploration, investigations on lunar soil become more and more attractive to the scientists duo to the existence of abundant 3He and ilmenite in the lunar soil and their possible utilization. Although the soil composition determination on the lunar surface is available by visible light spectrometer,γ/X-ray spectrometer etc, the evaluations on the total reserves of 3He and ilmenite in the lunar deep and on the thickness of the lunar soil are still impossible so far. In this paper, the authors first give a rough analysis of the microwave brightness temperature images of the lunar disc observed using the NRAO 12 Meter Telescope and Siberian Solar Radio Telescope; then introduce our researches on the microwave dielectric properties of lunar soil simulators; finally, discuss some basic relations between the microwave brightness temperature and lunar soil properties.     

2012–2014 China's Earth Observation and Earth Science Development

Human beings are now facing global and regional sustainable development challenges.In China, Earth observation data play a fundamental role in Earth system science research. The support given by Earth observation data is required by many studies, including those on Earth's limited natural resources, the rapid development of economic and social needs, global change, extreme events, food security, water resources, sustainable economic and urban development, and emergency response. Application operation systems in many ministries and departments in China have entered a stage of sustainable development, and the State Key Project of High-Resolution Earth Observation Systems has been progressing since 2006. Earth observation technology in China has entered a period of rapid development.     

Venus observations from ENVISAT–SCIAMACHY: Measurements and modeling

This work shows the capability of observing Venus with a sensor originally designed for Earth remote sensing. SCIAMACHY (SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY), onboard ENVISAT, successfully observed visible and near-infrared spectra from the Venusian atmosphere. The Venus spectra were simulated using a line-by-line radiative transfer model. The single scattering approximation was applied in order to consider the effects of an approximately 20 km-thick haze layer above the main cloud deck, which was considered as a reflecting cloud located in the upper atmosphere of the planet. CO₂ absorption lines could be distinguished in both observed and simulated spectra and a good agreement between them was also found.     

What are the physical mechanisms of eruptions and CMEs?

CMEs are due to physical phenomena that drive both, eruptions and flares in active regions. Eruptions/CMEs must be driven from initially force-free current-carrying magnetic field. Twisted flux ropes, sigmoids, current lanes and pattern in photospheric current maps show a clear evidence of currents parallel to the magnetic field. Eruptions occur starting from equilibria which have reached some instability threshold. Revisiting several data sets of CME observations we identified different mechanisms leading to this unstable state from a force free field. Boundary motions related to magnetic flux emergence and shearing favor the increase of coronal currents leading to the large flares of November 2003. On the other hand, we demonstrated by numerical simulations that magnetic flux emergence is not a sufficient condition for eruptions. Filament eruptions are interpreted either by a torus instability for an event occurring during the minimum of solar activity either by the diffusion of the magnetic flux reducing the tension of the restraining arcade. We concluded that CME models (tether cutting, break out, loss of equilibrium models) are based on these basic mechanisms for the onset of CMEs.     

Progress of 2014—2016 China's Earth Observation and Earth Science

The support given by Earth observation data and Earth system science play an increasingly important role in global change, regional sustainable development, extreme events, and the development of social and economic needs. This field is also moving towards systematization, platforms, and standardized development. In December 2015, nearly 200 parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed in Paris to make arrangements for global action in response to climate change by 2020. China jointly issued a climate change adaptation strategy for cities in 2016 and then elevated national action to respond to climate change. China's Earth Observation and Earth Science development is facing new challenges as it supports the national civil space infrastructure and high-resolution Earth observation system.      

Snow-covered lake ice in GPS multipath reception – Theory and measurement

Speculary reflected signals from the ground can significantly affect the performance of Global Positioning System receivers. For this type of multipath condition, the received powers are primarily the sum of the speculary reflected and direct signals. These reflected signals can provide useful information about the land-surface composition. In this paper, we discuss the special case of a snow-covered frozen lake, with incident energy at 1.57542 GHz with right-hand circularly polarization at elevation angles between 2° and 40°. The relative received powers are computed and measured for various thicknesses of lake ice. The received powers for both theory and measurement have the same behavior throughout a range of elevation angles. The potential for inferring lake ice thickness is explored for a snow-covered lake ice case study.     

Host–parasite interactions in closed and open microbial cultivation system

The study addresses interaction of bacteria and phages in the host–parasite system in batch and continuous cultures. The study system consists of the auxotrophic strain of Brevibacterium – Brevibacterium sp. 22L – and the bacteriophage of Brevibacterium sp., isolated from the soil by the enrichment method.

1.

Closed system. In the investigation of the relationship between the time of bacterial lysis and multiplicity of phage infection it has been found that at a lower phage amount per cell it takes a longer time for the lysis of the culture to become discernible. Another important factor determining cytolysis in liquid medium is the physiological state of bacterial population. Specific growth rate of bacteria at the moment of phage infection has been chosen as an indicator of the physiological state of bacteria. It has been shown that the shortest latent period and the largest output of the phage are observed during the logarithmic growth phase of bacteria grown under favorable nutrient conditions. In the stationary phase, bacterial cells become “a bad host” for the phage, whose reproduction rate decreases, and the lysis either slows down significantly or does not occur at all.     

Closed Environment Module – Modularization and extension of the Virtual Habitat

The Virtual Habitat (V-HAB), is a Life Support System (LSS) simulation, created to perform dynamic simulation of LSS’s for future human spaceflight missions. It allows the testing of LSS robustness by means of computer simulations, e.g. of worst case scenarios.     

Scientific progress of combined exploration DSP and Cluster: 2008—2010

The combined observations of Double Star and Cluster missions allow for, for the first time, six-point measurements of the main plasma parameters in the key scientific regions of the near-Earth environment. In the past two years, a great number of works were made based on the data from DSP and Cluster missions, advancing remarkably the research of magnetospheric physics in China. This paper briefly reviews these important scientific results based on 51 selected publications.      

Advances in the Researches of the Middle and Upper Atmosphere in China

In this paper we summarize the research results by Chinese scientists in 2016-2018. The focuses are placed on the researches of the middle and upper atmosphere, specifically the researches associated with groundbased observation capability development, dynamical processes, and properties of circulation and chemistryclimate coupling of the middle atmospheric layers.      

China’s Space Astronomy and Solar Physics in 2011-2012

In the first part of this paper, we describe briefly the mid and long-term plan of Chinese space astronomy, its preliminary study program, the current status of satellite missions undertaken, and the current status of astronomy experiments in China’s manned space flight program. In the second part, the recent research progress made in the fields of solar physics is summarized briefly, including solar vector magnetic field, solar flares, CME and filaments, solar radio and nonthermal processes, EUV waves, MHD waves and coronal waves, solar model and helioseismology, solar wind and behavior of solar cycle.      

Spaceflight-relevant types of ionizing radiation and cortical bone: Potential LET effect?

Extended exposure to microgravity conditions results in significant bone loss. Coupled with radiation exposure, this phenomenon may place astronauts at a greater risk for mission-critical fractures. In a previous study, we identified a profound and prolonged loss of trabecular bone (29–39%) in mice following exposure to an acute, 2 Gy dose of radiation simulating both solar and cosmic sources. However, because skeletal strength depends on trabecular and cortical bone, accurate assessment of strength requires analysis of both bone compartments. The objective of the present study was to examine various properties of cortical bone in mice following exposure to multiple types of spaceflight-relevant radiation. Nine-week old, female C57BL/6 mice were sacrificed 110 days after exposure to a single, whole body, 2 Gy dose of gamma, proton, carbon, or iron radiation. Femora were evaluated with biomechanical testing, microcomputed tomography, quantitative histomorphometry, percent mineral content, and micro-hardness analysis. Compared to non-irradiated controls, there were significant differences compared to carbon or iron radiation for only fracture force, medullary area and mineral content. A greater differential effect based on linear energy transfer (LET) level may be present: high-LET (carbon or iron) particle irradiation was associated with a decline in structural properties (maximum force, fracture force, medullary area, and cortical porosity) and mineral composition compared to low-LET radiation (gamma and proton). Bone loss following irradiation appears to be largely specific to trabecular bone and may indicate unique biological microenvironments and microdosimetry conditions. However, the limited time points examined and non-haversian skeletal structure of the mice employed highlight the need for further investigation.     

Goddard Robotic Telescope – Optical follow-up of GRBs and coordinated observations of AGNs

Since it is not possible to predict when a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) will occur or when Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) flaring activity starts, follow-up/monitoring ground telescopes must be located as uniformly as possible all over the world in order to collect data simultaneously with Fermi and Swift detections. However, there is a distinct gap in follow-up coverage of telescopes in the eastern U.S. region based on the operations of Swift. Motivated by this fact, we have constructed a 14″ fully automated optical robotic telescope, Goddard Robotic Telescope (GRT), at the Goddard Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory. The aims of our robotic telescope are (1) to follow-up Swift/Fermi GRBs and (2) to perform the coordinated optical observations of Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) AGN. Our telescope system consists of off-the-shelf hardware. With the focal reducer, we are able to match the field of view of Swift narrow instruments (20′ × 20′). We started scientific observations in mid-November 2008 and GRT has been fully remotely operated since August 2009. The 3σ upper limit in a 30 s exposure in the R filter is ∼15.4 mag; however, we can reach to ∼18 mag in a 600 s exposures. Due to the weather condition at the telescope site, our observing efficiency is 30–40% on average.     

Meteoroid and Space Debris Risk Assessment for Satellites Orbiting the Earth/Moon

Interplanetary meteoroids and space debris can impact satellites orbiting the Earth or spacecraft traveling to the Moon. Targeting China Space Station(CSS), 7 satellites selected from the constellation of Beidou Navigation Satellite System Phase Ⅲ(BDS-3), and 3 spacecraft orbiting the Moon, we have adopted in the paper the Meteoroid Engineering Model 3, Divine-Staubach meteoroid environment model, and Jenniskens-Mc Bride meteoroid steam model to analyze the meteoroid environment with the mass ra...     

Magnetic cloud and magnetosphere — Ionosphere response to the 6 November 1997 CME

In the present work we analyse the magnetic cloud (MC) at 1 AU on 9 November 1997. The appearance of a hotter and dense part (dense filament), with radial extent 10⁶ km, immediately behind the frontal part of the MC, is a distinctive feature of the event. The INTERBALL - Aurora] Probe had a chance to observe field-aligned currents in the mid - altitude magnetosphere during the substorm expansion phase intensification related to the dense filament. We emphasise the appearance of unusual “N”- shape magnetic structure, duration 3 min, amplitude 50 nT between field-aligned current region 1 and the magnetosphere lobe in the late evening hours. To explain some of the MC features we refer to a model scenario of the 6 November 1997 coronal mass ejection.