Infrared spectrometer PFS for the Mars 94 orbiter

Thin films containing a mixture of aliphatic (glycine) and aromatic (tryptophan or tyrosine) amino acids were exposed to a vacuum ultraviolet radiation (VUV) with wavelenghts 100–200 nm. Dipeptides (glycyl-tryptophan and glycyl-tyrosine) were synthesized in these conditions. We compared the actions of VUV and γ-radiation. Polymerization is an essential step in prebiological evolution and we have shown that this stage probably occured over an early Solar system history.     

Estimation of plasma density from wave data of cold electron plasma

Based on the dispersion relation of electron plasma, one can expect, that the waves excited in the frequency band (f_p, f_u=sqrt(f_p^*f_p+f_c^*f_c)) should persist in experimental spectra. For wave data from a spacecraft immersed in a cold plasma such an assumption may be misleading. In measurements performed on board the INTERCOSMOS-19, ACTIVE, APEX satellites and VC36.064CE rocket the most prominent spectral structure is centered around frequency f_r fulfilling the relation f_crp and corresponds to resonant detection of Bernstein waves excited in the surrounding plasma by spacecraft systems. Input network mismatch at frequencies around fu significantly depresses natural plasma noise as well as that excited by the spacecraft. Plasma emissions in the band (f_p, f_u) are prominent if the electromagnetic excitation is preferential (topside sounders) or if the excitation introduces nonequilibrium components into the plasma e.g. particle beams or clouds. Experimental examples are presented and parameters of cold plasma spectra useful for electron density estimation are discussed. The application to other spacecraft-cold plasma configurations is suggested.     

Use of combined light flash and plasma measurements to study hypervelocity impact processes

We present new measurements concerning generation of light flash during hypervelocity impacts. We use iron particles (10⁻¹³ to 10⁻¹⁷ kg) with velocities over the range 1 to 42 km/s impacting semi-infinite targets (aluminium and molybdenum). The main results of previous work in the field are found to be reproduced with some slight deviations. For iron projectiles with given mass and velocity the energy of the flash (normalized to mass) is proportional to velocity to the power of 3.5 for aluminium targets and 3.9 for molybdenum targets. The duration of the flash is of order 1 microsecond. Simultaneous measurements of the generation of impact plasma do not change this. The onset of plasma generation of the bulk target material does not affect the total light flash energy. We discuss the duration of the flash compared to a simple calculation of temperature in the target and plasma vs time.     

Characteristics of the equatorial F-region vertical plasma drift observed during post-sunset and pre-sunrise hours

Post-sunset and pre-sunrise vertical plasma drifts at the equatorial F-region have been investigated using the HF Doppler radar and ionosonde observations. Observed vertical plasma drift features during the sunrise are found to complement that observed during the evening. The post-sunset vertical plasma drift is characterized by an upward enhancement, a pre-reversal enhancement and a reversal in the drift direction. Similarly, the pre-sunrise plasma drift is characterized by a sudden downward excursion followed by an upward turning. The wavelet analysis of the plasma drift shows the presence of fluctuations in the period range 4–32 min and the short period fluctuations are attributed to the atmospheric gravity waves.     

A new inversion method of plasma density distribution of plasmasphere in the geomagnetic equatorial plane from IMAGE data

The plasma density distribution of plasmasphere in the geomagnetic equatorial plane can help us study the magnetosphere like plasmasphere, ionosphere and their kinetics. In this paper, we introduce a new inversion method, GE-ART, to calculate the plasma density distribution in the geomagnetic equatorial plane from the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) data of IMAGE satellite under the assumption that the plasma density is constant along each geomagnetic field line. The new GE-ART algorithm was derived from the traditional Algebraic Reconstruction Techniques (ART) in Computed Tomography (CT) which was different from the several existing methods. In this new method, each value of the EUV image data was back-projected evenly to the geomagnetic field lines intersected by this EUV sight. A 3-D inversion matrix was produced by the contributions of all the voxels contained in the plasmasphere covered by the EUV sensor. That is, we considered that each value of the EUV image data was relative to the plasma densities of all the voxels passed through by the corresponding EUV radiation, which is the biggest difference to all the existing inversion methods. Finally, the GE-ART algorithm was evaluated by the real EUV data from the IMAGE satellite.     

高速撞击梯度电势靶板产生等离子体诱发的放电

针对在轨运行航天器在空间等离子体环境和空间带电粒子活动下诱发航天器表面梯度电势存在的客观现实,航天器在空间碎片的撞击下会诱发表面带电或深层电介质带电的航天器放电。为了在实验室模拟航天器表面存在电势差的真实情况,采用对航天器外表面分割的方法,在分割的表面间预留不同间距且在2靶板间加装电阻的方法创造具有梯度电势的高电势2A12铝板作为靶板。利用自行构建的梯度电势靶板的充放电测试系统、超高速相机采集系统和二级轻气炮加载系统,开展高速撞击梯度电势2A12铝靶的实验室实验。实验中,弹丸以入射角度为60°（弹道与靶板平面的夹角）、撞击速度约为3 km/s的条件撞击间距分别为2、3、4和5 mm的2A12铝高电势靶板,利用电流探针和电压探针采集放电电流和放电电压。实验结果表明:放电产生的等离子体形成了高电势与低电势靶板间的放电通道,且在梯度电势靶板间距分别为2、3 mm时诱发了一次放电,放电电流随高低电势靶板间间距的增加而减小;在梯度电势靶板间距分别为4、5 mm时诱发了二次放电,放电电流随高低电势靶板间间距的增加变化不明显。      

Structure of plasma blobs injected into the ionosphere from a rocket

To study artificial disturbances in the ionosphere, caused by pulsed injection of plasma two MR-12 rockets with plasma guns were launched from Volgograd in 1978–1979. The pulsed plasma was ejected from the separated daughter payload, alternatively, along and transverse the magnetic field lines. The experimental and model data on structure and dynamics of the artificial plasma blobs in the ionosphere are discussed.     

A review of progress in the world climate impact studies programme

The paper briefly outlines the development of the World Climate Programme and notes the decisions of the respective Governing bodies of the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme which led to UNEP assuming responsibility for the implementation of the World Climate Impact Studies Programme.     

A spectroscopic measurement of high velocity spray plasma from an M-class flare and coronal mass ejection

The M1.5-class flare and associated coronal mass ejection (CME) of 16 February 2011 was observed with the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer on board the Hinode spacecraft. Spray plasma associated with the CME is found to exhibit a Doppler blue-shift of 850 km s^?1 – one of the largest values reported from spectroscopy of the solar disk and inner corona. The observation is unusual in that the emission line (Fe xii 193.51 Å) is not observed directly, but the Doppler shift is so large that the blue-shifted component appears in a wavelength window at 192.82 Å, intended to observe lines of O v, Fe xi and Ca xvii. The Fe xii 195.12 Å emission line is used as a proxy for the rest component of 193.51 Å. The observation highlights the risks of using narrow wavelength windows for spectrometer observations when observing highly-dynamic solar phenomena. The consequences of large Doppler shifts for ultraviolet solar spectrometers, including the upcoming Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) mission, are discussed.     

A preliminary consideration of the electron impact ionization effect in cometary comas

From an analysis of the electron number densities and velocity distributions as observed at comet Giacobini-Zinner and comet Halley, it appears that in the so-called “transition region” of the coma electron impact ionization can exceed the nominal photoionization rate of H₂O molecules but not by an order of magnitude. It is possible in localized regions where electron heating by ion acoustic waves and lower hybrid waves occurs, electron impact would become the dominant ionization (and dissociation) mechanism. The overall effect as limited by in-situ measurements of the neutral gas density distribution could be shown to be small, however.     

94GHz径向螺旋波导行波管研究

提出了一种具有工作电压小、结构紧凑、散热性好等特点的新型慢波结构——径向螺旋波导结构,利用电磁仿真软件分析了其色散及传输特性,结果表明该种结构行波管工作电压可低至数百伏.由于圆柱电子枪发射面远大于常规行波管,因而在小电流密度下仍可保证大电流:电流密度为100 mA/cm²时电流可达30 A.该结构在W波段具有较大的尺寸,易于加工,并且在更高波段同样具有很好的传输特性,具有较大的研究价值.     

Characteristics of field line resonance type geomagnetic pulsations and variations of plasmaspheric plasma density distribution

The period of field line resonance (FLR) type geomagnetic pulsations depends on the length of the field line and on the plasma density in the inner magnetosphere (plasmasphere), where field lines are closed. Here as FLR period, the period belonging to the maximum occurrence frequency of the occurrence frequency spectrum (equivalent resonance curve) of pulsations has been considered. The resonance system may be replaced by an equivalent resonant circuit. The plasma density would correspond to the ohmic load. The plasma in the plasmasphere originates from the ionosphere, thus FLR period, occurrence frequency are also affected by the maximum electron density in the ionosphere. The FLR period has shown an enhancement with increasing F region electron density, while the occurrence frequency indicated diminishing trend (possible damping effect). Thus, the increased plasma density may be the cause of the decreased occurrence of FLR type pulsations in the winter months of solar activity maximum years (winter anomaly).     

Hydrogen cyanide polymers from the impact of comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter.

Hydrogen cyanide polymers--heterogeneous solids ranging in color from yellow to orange to brown to black--may be among the organic macromolecules most readily formed within the Solar System. The non-volatile black crust of comet Halley, for example, as well as the extensive orange-brown streaks in the atmosphere of Jupiter, might consist largely of such polymers synthesized from HCN formed by photolysis of methane and ammonia. Laboratory studies of these ubiquitous compounds point to the presence of polyamidine structures synthesized directly from hydrogen cyanide. These would be converted by water to polypeptides which can be further hydrolyzed to alpha-amino acids. Other polymers and multimers with ladder structures derived from HCN would also be present and might well be the source of the many nitrogen heterocycles, adenine included, detected by thermochemolytic analysis. The dark brown color arising from the impacts of comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter could therefore be mainly caused by the presence of HCN polymers, whether originally present, deposited by the impactor or synthesized from freshly formed HCN. Spectroscopic detection of these predicted macromolecules and their hydrolytic and pyrolytic by-products would strengthen significantly the hypothesis that cyanide polymerization is a preferred pathway for prebiotic and extraterrestrial chemistry.     

航天器AIT中心空气霉菌特性研究

通过对中国3个地区的航天器AIT厂房内空气中霉菌进行采集,利用培养法得到纯化菌株53株,通过ITS测序鉴定分属8个属,进一步对这些霉菌的特性进行研究,发现青霉属和曲霉属内不同菌株间的菌落径向生长速率差异较大,研究同时显示不同种属霉菌对消毒剂PHMB的敏感性差异非常大,这些差异将加剧微生物防护与控制的难度。     

Comparative study of plasma wave activity in the plasma sheet boundary and near Earth plasma sheet

The general structure of low frequency wave activity in the Earth's plasma sheet and its boundary layer is studied on the basis of the measurements made by ‘Prognoz-8’ satellite in the northern night and morning parts of the magnetotail. Pronounced wave activity is permanently observed in the high latitude parts of the plasma sheet boundary layer. The level of perturbations diminishes when a spacecraft moves towards tail lobes and drops rather sharply when it moves to the central plasma sheet. The peaks near the low hybrid resonance frequency (correlating with the local strength of the magnetic field) are evident in the electric field fluctuations spectra. A plasma instability of low hybrid type driven by transverse current is though to be the possible candidate for the excitation of these waves. Wave activity in tail lobes is related mainly to the isolated hot and cold plasma streams.     

A solar wind driven model of geosynchronous plasma moments

We describe a tabular specification model of the density and temperature of ions and electrons at geosynchronous orbit as a function of magnetic local time and solar wind parameters. This model can be used to provide boundary conditions for numerical ring current models. Unlike previous specification models of geosynchronous plasma moments, this model is parameterized by upstream solar wind conditions. We find that solar wind parameters are a better predictor of geosynchronous ion density than magnetospheric indices, and as upstream parameters they are often more appropriate as model inputs since they causally precede the model outputs. Of the upstream parameters that were tested, the best predictors of geosynchronous conditions were the solar wind flow pressure and the magnitude and Z-component of the interplanetary magnetic field.     

Geoeffectiveness of interplanetary shocks controlled by impact angles: A review

The high variability of the Sun’s magnetic field is responsible for the generation of perturbations that propagate throughout the heliosphere. Such disturbances often drive interplanetary shocks in front of their leading regions. Strong shocks transfer momentum and energy into the solar wind ahead of them which in turn enhance the solar wind interaction with magnetic fields in its way. Shocks then eventually strike the Earth’s magnetosphere and trigger a myriad of geomagnetic effects observed not only by spacecraft in space, but also by magnetometers on the ground. Recently, it has been revealed that shocks can show different geoeffectiveness depending closely on the angle of impact. Generally, frontal shocks are more geoeffective than inclined shocks, even if the former are comparatively weaker than the latter. This review is focused on results obtained from modeling and experimental efforts in the last 15?years. Some theoretical and observational background are also provided.     

Inferring plasma flow velocities from photospheric vector magnetic field observations for the investigation of flare onsets

The amount of emergence and submergence of magnetized plasma and the horizontal motion of the footpoints of flux tubes might be crucial for the dynamics of the solar atmosphere. Although the rate of flux emergence and submergence can be observationally determined near the polarity inversion line (Chae et al., 2004), the same is not true for regions away from the PIL. Also, the horizontal motions cannot be directly measured in the solar photosphere. In this sense, the evolution of the photospheric magnetic field provides valuable information which can be used to estimate photospheric plasma flows since magnetic field and plasma are closely associated (frozen-in-condition). We used three methods to estimate the photospheric plasma motion from magnetic field observations. The methods were applied to photospheric vector magnetic field data of active region NOAA 9077, observed by the Huairou Solar Observing Station (HSOS) of the National Astronomical Observatories of China before and after the ‘Bastille Day’ flare on July 13th and 14th, 2000.     

Propagation of plasma bubbles observed in Brazil from GPS and airglow data

Equatorial spread-F is a common occurrence in the equatorial ionosphere that is associated with large variations in plasma density that often cause scintillation and interference in communication signals. These events are known to result from Rayleigh–Taylor instability, but the day-to-day variability of their occurrence is not well understood. The triggering mechanism of plasma depletions is still a matter of debate, but may be linked to gravity waves that under favorable conditions propagate to the middle atmosphere. Understanding the triggering of ESF was the focus of the SpreadFEx campaign near Brasilia, Brazil in 2005. The campaign provided co-located airglow and GPS observations to study the onset of plasma depletions and their evolution as they traversed the region. Comparisons between the 630.0 nm airglow data and GPS data demonstrate the ability of the compact dual frequency GPS array to detect the plasma bubbles and retrieve reliable propagation characteristics of the depletions. In this case study, a plasma depletion was detected and moved over the array at velocities of 85–110 m/s, slowing as it moved towards the east. Correlation of consecutive airglow images gives consistent estimates of the eastward drift over the same time period. Mapping the airglow data to the GPS line-of-sight geometry allows direct comparison and reveals a resolvable westward tilt of the plasma depletion that may be due to vertical shear. The uniqueness of this study is the ability to resolve locally the characteristics of the plasma depletion without relying on assumptions about the mapping of the depletion along magnetic field lines to large latitudinal distances. It presents new information for understanding ESF development and the development of depletions strong enough to produce scintillation.     

Differential emission measure analysis of hot-flare plasma from solar-maximum mission X-ray data

We have investigated differential emission measure (DEM) distribution of hot flare plasma (T>10 MK) using SMM X-ray data from Bent Crystal Spectrometer (BCS) and Hard X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (HXIS). We have found that the analysis provide a very sensitive test of consistency of observational data coming from different instruments or different channels of the same instrument. This has allowed to eliminate some systematic differences contained in the analysed data.Typical examples of the DEM distribution are discussed. It is stressed that these improvements in the multitemperature flare diagnostics are very important for the discussion of flare energetics.