Atmospheric dynamics on Venus and Mars

New results from Pioneer Orbiter observations indicate a continued vortex organization of the cloud level atmosphere in either hemisphere, centered over respective poles. Significant changes in the magnitude of the cloud level zonal circulation over a period of several years have been detected. A strong signature of the solar tidal circulation has been detected in the atmospheric circulation with the lowest speeds occurring in equatorial latitudes about 20° upstream of the sub-solar point. Finally, a solar-locked persistent spatial structure has been discovered in the variance of the ultraviolet brightness measured from brightness normalized images of Venus. Vega balloons (drifting at about 53 km altitude near 7°N and 7°S latitudes) have also provided some unique observations of atmospheric circulation, significant among them being the strong vertical motions, the zonality of their drift speeds as well as a significant temperature difference between the two balloons. The temperature difference which amounts to 6.5°K on average is currently being interpreted as a temperature variation with longitude or time.

Diagnostic modelling efforts towards simulating the atmospheric circulation on Venus are continuing and have provided some clues about the processes that maintain them but have not yet been successful in explaining the superrotation of the atmosphere.

Knowledge of the Martian atmospheric dynamics on the other hand is still limited by lack of adequate observations. Numerical modelling of the Martian atmosphere continues to provide most of the information about the atmospheric circulation. The situation regarding the paucity of observations should improve with the completion of the proposed Mars Observer mission. The low circular polar orbit planned provides an excellent opportunity to study the Martian atmosphere.     

Thermal structure of the Martian atmosphere retrieved from the IR spectrometry in the 15 μm CO2 band: input to MIRA

This paper describes one of the sources of the data concerning the thermal structure of the Martian atmosphere, based on the thermal IR spectrometry method. It allows to investigate the Martian atmosphere below 55 km by retrieving the temperature profiles from the 15 μm CO₂ band. This approach enables to reach the vertical resolution of several kilometers and the temperature accuracy of several Kelvins. An aerosol abundance, which influences the temperature profile, is obtained from the continuum of the same spectrum parallel with the temperature profile and is taken into account in the temperature retrieval procedure in a self consistent way. Although this method has the limited vertical resolution, it possesses a significant advantage: the thermal IR spectrometry allows to monitor the temperature profiles with a good coverage both in space and local time. The Planetary Fourier spectrometer on board of Mars Express has the spectral range from 250 to 8000 cm⁻¹ and a high spectral resolution of about 2 cm⁻¹. Vertical temperature profiles retrieval is one of the main scientific goals of the experiment. The important data are expected to be obtained on the vertical thermal structure of the atmosphere, and its dependence on latitude, longitude, season, local time, clouds and dust loadings. These results should give a significant input in the future MIRA, being included in the Chapter “Structure of the atmosphere from the surface to 100 km”.     

Comparison of ionospheric data from Soviet and Chinese stations with the IRI-86 and the faim models

Median values of ionospheric data from Moscow(55.5° N, 37.3° E), Tashkent (41.3° N, 69.6° E), Beijing (40.0° N, 116.3° E) and Guangzhou (23.1° N, 113.3° E) for different years at LT: 00.00, 06.00, 12.00 and 18.00 were used to produce vertical profiles of electron density with the analytic procedure introduced by Giovanni and Radicella. These profiles were compared with the IRI-86 model profiles adjusted to the F2 experimental peak values and with those obtained with the Fully Analytic Ionospheric Model (FAIM). The main differences with the IRI model are related to the shape of the topside profile under certain conditions and to the presence of the F1 layer in the median values used. The differences with the FAIM model appears to be more marked. The results are discussed.     

CRISTA-NF measurements of water vapor during the SCOUT-O3 Tropical Aircraft Campaign

The new remote sensing experiment CRISTA-NF (Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere – New Frontiers) successfully participated in the SCOUT-O3 Tropical Aircraft Campaign in November and December 2005. CRISTA-NF operated aboard the high-altitude research aircraft M-55 Geophysica. Mid-infrared spectra (4–15 μm) were measured in the limb sounding geometry with high spatial resolution (250 m vertical sampling, 5–15 km along track sampling). Measurements were carried out during transfer flights between Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, and Darwin, Australia, as well as during several local flights near Darwin. Water vapor volume mixing ratios in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere were derived from the CRISTA-NF radiance measurements by utilizing a rapid radiative transfer forward model and the optimal estimation retrieval approach. CRISTA-NF water vapor measurements below the hygropause have a total retrieval error of 15–40% (i.e. root mean square of accuracy and precision). The systematic terms are dominating in the retrieval error budget. The contributions of a priori information to the retrieval results are less than 5–10%. The vertical resolution of the observations is about 250–500 m when permitted by instrument sampling. In this paper we present first results for three transfer flights of the campaign. Being generally in good agreement with corresponding ECMWF operational analyzes, the CRISTA-NF measurements show significantly higher variability and local structures in the upper tropospheric water vapor distributions.     

Sensitivity analysis for air temperature profile estimation methods around the tropopause using simulated Aqua/AIRS data

A sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate potential improvements to the accuracy of air temperature profile retrievals near the tropopause. A simple inversion method is employed to identify and remove redundant spectral channels from the retrievals using simulated data for the high-spectral resolution sounder AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) on the Aqua satellite. Bayesian optimal theory and inverse technique are applied for the atmospheric temperature profile retrievals, and the 15 μm CO₂ absorption bands (620–750 cm⁻¹) are chosen for this study. Sequentially elimination of redundant channels is directly integrated into the inverse scheme for the temperature profile, in order to accurately retain the valuable channels and remove all the redundant channels, for accurate retrieval of the temperature profile. Also, the tropopause and troposphere are treated differently in the inverse scheme to improve the retrieval accuracy in the tropopause. Results of a sensitivity analysis based on this method, for the Tropical and Middle-Latitude Summer models simulated by MODTRAN4.0, show that the estimated accuracies are improved by 2 K around the tropopause, and are only changed by less than 0.2 K in the troposphere.     

太赫兹大气临边探测仪遥感中高层大气风仿真

太赫兹大气临边探测仪（TALIS）是中国正在预研的第一台THz频段的临边探测仪,主要用于高精度、高分辨率的大气遥感测量.TALIS的观测目标主要包括大气温度、大气压强、大气成分（例如H₂O,O₃,HCl,ClO,N₂O,HNO₃等）的垂直分布以及长期变化趋势.由于TALIS的频段覆盖了许多重要的吸收谱线,其观测数据中包含大气风的多普勒信息,因此可以用于反演中高层风的廓线.本文针对TALIS视线多普勒风的观测进行仿真,利用辐射传输模型（ARTS）评估了TALIS测风的潜力和相应的反演精度.结果表明,TALIS的118GHz谱仪具有较好的测量精度,在70km处的精度为12m·s-1.183GHz,633GHz和658GHz谱仪也有一定的测量信息,反演精度分别为19m·s-1（60km）,19m·s-1（50km）,16m·s-1（50km）.TALIS有一个候选的测风谱仪位于655GHz频段,其在55km处的反演精度为11m·s-1.此外,虽然降低谱分辨率能有效提高系统灵敏度,但并不能提高反演精度,需要通过降低系统噪声来提高测风的精度.      

E region electric fields at the dip equator and anomalous conductivity effects

Zonal and vertical electric fields were estimated at E region heights in the Brazilian sector. Zonal electric fields are obtained from the vertical electric fields based on their relation through the Hall-to-Pedersen ionospheric conductivities ratio. The technique for obtaining the vertical electric field is based on its proportionality to the Doppler velocities of type 2 irregularities as detected by coherent radars. The 50 MHz backscatter coherent (RESCO) radar was used to estimate the Doppler velocities of the type 2 irregularities embedded in the equatorial electrojet. A magnetic field-line integrated conductivity model was developed to provide the conductivities. It considers a multi-species ionosphere and a multi-species neutral atmosphere, and uses the IRI 2007, the MISIS 2000 and the IGRF 10 models as input parameters for ionosphere, neutral atmosphere and Earth’s magnetic field, respectively. The ion-neutral collision frequencies of all the species are combined through the momentum transfer collision frequency equation, and different percentages of electron-neutral collisions were artificially included for studying the implication of such increase in the zonal electric field, which resulted ranging from 0.13 to 0.49 mV/m between the 8 and 18 h (LT), under quiet magnetic conditions.     

太赫兹火星大气临边探测仿真研究

对火星大气进行连续高分辨率观测是研究火星大气物理和化学过程的重要手段.太赫兹临边探测技术通过测量火星大气中的风和光化学循环中的重要气体（CO,O₃,H₂O,H₂O₂等）提高对火星的认知.针对火星大气遥感的探测需求,分析了300～1000GHz频段的频谱特征.针对探测卫星对于载荷质量、功耗等参数的要求,提出一个560GHz频段的火星大气太赫兹临边探测仪设计方案,并利用辐射传输模型ARTS中的行星工具箱进行仿真.仿真结果显示:火星大气温度的反演精度优于4K,其中45km高度以下优于2K;H₂O丰度的反演精度在90km以下优于50%,30km以下优于2%;H₂O₂的反演精度在40km以下优于50%;O₃的反演精度在50km以下优于60%;大气风速度的反演精度在65km以上优于5m·s-1,最高可以达到2m·s-1.研究结果表明,利用太赫兹波段的吸收谱线可以很好地探测火星大气中各成分的丰度、变化趋势以及中高层大气的风,可为后续火星表面及大气探测提供参考.      

Zonal mean temperature, pressure, zonal wind and geopotential height as functions of latitude

The new zonal mean COSPAR International Reference Atmosphere (CIRA-86) of temperature, zonal wind, and geopotential/geometric height is presented. This data can be used as a function of altitude or pressure and has nearly pole-to-pole coverage (80°S-80°N) extending from the ground to approximately 120 km. Data sources and methods of computation are described; in general, hydrostatic and thermal wind balance are maintained at all levels and latitudes. As shown by a series of cross sectional plots, the new CIRA accurately reproduces most of the characteristic features of the atmosphere such as the equatorial wind and the general structure of the tropopause, stratopause, and mesopause.     

Neutral upper atmospheres of Venus and Mars

Numerous measurements of the neutral upper atmosphere above 100 km have been made from spacecraft over Venus and over Mars. The Venus exospheric temperatures are unexpectedly low (less than 300°K near noon and less than 130°K near midnight). These very low temperatures may be partially caused by collisional excitation of CO₂ vibrational states by atomic oxygen and partially by eddy cooling. The Venus atmosphere is unexpectedly insensitive to solar EUV variability. On the other hand, the Martian dayside exospheric temperature varies from 150°K to 400°K over the 11-year solar cycle, where CO₂ 15-μm cooling may be less effective because of lower atomic oxygen mixing ratios. On Venus, temperature increases with altitude on the dayside (thermosphere), but decreases with altitude from 100 to 150 km on the nightside (cryosphere). However, dayside Martian temperatures near solar minimum for maximum planet-sun distance and low solar activity are essentially isothermal from 40 km to 200 km. During high solar activity, the thermospheric temperatures of Mars sharply increase. The Venus neutral upper atmosphere contains CO₂, O, CO, C, N₂, N, He, H, D and hot nonthermal H, O, C, and N, while the dayside Mars neutral upper atmosphere contains CO₂, O, O₂, CO, C, N₂, He, H, and Ar. There is evidence on Venus for inhibited day-to-night transport as well as superrotation of the upper atmosphere. Both atmospheres have substantial wave activity. Various theoretical models used to interpret the planetary atmospheric data are discussed.     

The potential for radiometric retrievals of halocarbon concentrations from the MIPAS-E instrument

Halocarbons, such as CFC-11, CFC-12 and HCFC-22, are important trace gases in the atmosphere through their role as greenhouse gases and their influence on stratospheric ozone chemistry. This paper focuses on an initial study using integration of spectral radiance measurements from a spaceborne limb sounding Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) to retrieve these compounds in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). The instrument employed in this study is the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding onboard ENVISAT (MIPAS-E) which obtains spectral data in the altitude range of 6–68 km at an unapodized spectral resolution of 0.025 cm⁻¹. We have used optimal estimation techniques to retrieve vertical information for these compounds using a radiometric approach.

It is shown that significant retrieval information is obtained at up to five measured levels in the UTLS for CFC-11, up to six for CFC-12 and up to two levels for HCFC-22. An initial error analysis indicates significant sensitivity of our retrievals to variability in operationally retrieved pressure and temperature data. For each halocarbon, gain, offset and spectroscopic uncertainties generally each contribute less than 10% to the total error. Finally, tracer correlations are used to compare the datasets to equivalent relationships derived here from version 2 ATMOS data with very good agreements for CFC-12 but with more variability in the CFC-11 comparisons.     

Observations of the ozone and nitrogen dioxide profiles in the TROICA-4 experiment

To investigate the vast area of Russia, a mobile scientific facility based in a railway carriage was developed. It is capable to perform continues measurements being coupled in a passenger train traveling along railroads. It was first equipped with a spectrometer for remote sensing of ozone and nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere for the transcontinental observations into the chemistry of the atmosphere-4 expedition performed from February 18 to March 5, 1998. A twilight DOAS method, which was applied for retrieval of the nitrogen dioxide profiles basing on spectral measurements at the visible wavelengths (434–451 nm), is described in the paper. Main features of a new algorithm for retrieval of the ozone profile and total content using the differential structure of the UV spectrum (310–335 nm) are presented. The ozone and nitrogen dioxide contents are obtained and shortly validated against available alternative data.     

中层大气的一种特殊振荡现象

通过分析Nimbus7卫星的SAMS温度探测数据，发现叠加在温度季节变化上，存在一种特殊的纬圈平均温度谐波振荡现象，其特征是，在水平方向上是同步振荡，在垂直方向上呈驻波特征．分析认为这种振荡可能是地球大气的一个特征波模，它的纬向波数m＝0，经向波数n=0，相应的特征函数为,表现为大气单纯的垂直运动，在垂直方向上存在反射面，形成驻波．     

基于STK的GPS/LEO无线电掩星技术仿真研究

GPS/LEO无线电掩星技术反演地球大气参数剖面已经具有较高的精度. 国外开展了多个GPS/LEO掩星项目, 但中国还尚未深入进行相关的实验, 这制约了中国掩星技术的发展. 本文提出基于STK进行GPS/LEO掩星技术研究的方法; 根据GPS/LEO掩星的原理, 推导出掩星事件发生的条件和掩星切点的计算公式; 利用STK对掩星过程进行模拟, 得到掩星数据. 在大气球对称假设和大气模型已知的条件下, 反演得到中性大气折射指数. 通过比较模型和反演数据, 表明反演数据精度较高, 验证了利用STK模拟GPS/LEO掩星实验方法的可行性.      

Analysis of the ROSAT pointed observation of the hot DA white dwarf HS1234+4811

The ROSAT data of the hot DA white dwarf HS1234+4811 were analyzed in the framework of three different assumptions for the structure of the white dwarf's atmosphere. It could be excluded that the star has a homogeneously mixed photosphere consisting of helium and hydrogen only, but from ROSAT observations alone it is not possible to decide if the object has a stratified atmosphere with an ultrathin hydrogen layer (M_H ≈ 7 · 10⁻¹⁴M) on top of the He envelope or if heavier elements are responsible for the absorption in the soft X-ray region.     

General aspect of GPS data use for atmospheric science

The radio link between a GPS satellite and a GPS receiver is appropriate for bistatic radar sounding of the Earth's atmosphere, ionosphere, and ocean surface (latter in case of GPS reflection). Measurements of GPS phases and amplitudes are currently performed by spaceborne, airborne, mountain- and ground-based GPS receivers. In the present paper, an uniform approach based on geometrical optics and spherical symmetry of the atmosphere is applied to various GPS observation configurations. Atmospheric mapping function, influence and retrieval of ionospheric layers/disturbances, tropospheric water vapor, and possible measurement of vertical winds and wave velocities are investigated by use of simulation data of GPS phase path excess and bending angle.     

基于多语义线索的跨模态视频检索算法

针对现有的大多数跨模态视频检索算法忽略了数据中丰富的语义线索,使得生成特征的表现能力较差的问题,设计了一种基于多语义线索的跨模态视频检索模型,该模型通过多头目自注意力机制捕捉视频模态内部对语义起到重要作用的数据帧,有选择性地关注视频数据的重要信息,获取数据的全局特征;采用双向门控循环单元（GRU）捕捉多模态数据内部上下文之间的交互特征;通过对局部数据之间的细微差别进行联合编码挖掘出视频和文本数据中的局部信息。通过数据的全局特征、上下文交互特征和局部特征构成多模态数据的多语义线索,更好地挖掘数据中的语义信息,进而提高检索效果。在此基础上,提出了一种改进的三元组距离度量损失函数,采用了基于相似性排序的困难负样本挖掘方法,提升了跨模态特征的学习效果。在MSR-VTT数据集上的实验表明:与当前最先进的方法比较,所提算法在文本检索视频任务上提高了11.1%;在MSVD数据集上的实验表明:与当前先进的方法比较,所提算法在文本检索视频任务上总召回率提高了5.0%。      

Comparing the improved Di Giovanni/Radicella model with sounding-based electron density profiles and with the IRI model

The Di Giovanni/Radicella model (DGR) /1/ determines a bottom side electron densty profile alone from the set of routinely scaled ionogram parameters foE, foF1, foF2 and M(3000)F2 and the total electron content; the smoothed sunspot number R12 appears in the calculation. Present designations are DGR2/2/ and DRR3 /3/ [see Appendix]; they are valid in the northern hemisphere. DGR is compared with electron density profiles derived from ionograms obtained at Juliusruh (54.6°N, 13.4°E), and with the (URSI-based) IRI90 at different conditiones. Experimental total electron content (TEC) data are compared to both models. At the considered station, the profiles obtained by both models are reasonably in agreement amongst themselves and with the experimental data.

The TEC derived from the DGR3 model is in good agreement with experimental TEC, whereas, at high solar activity, IRI90 gives too high TEC values, especially during daytime.     

K波段微波高光谱辐射计的晴空定标方法

K波段微波高光谱辐射计应用于大气探测方向,能够减少地表至对流层内的大气廓线误差和提高廓线的垂直分辨率.针对平均辐射温度在宽大气频谱和不同天空仰角下存在浮动的问题,结合所统计的北京地区往年廓线数据和晴空条件下的Liebe大气吸收模型（1993）,提出了一种微波高光谱下改进的晴空定标方法.相比于传统的晴空定标方法,该方法利用先验的气象数据对定标过程进行优化计算,有利于提高平均辐射温度的预测精度.误差分析结果表明当K波段微波高光谱辐射计采用改进的晴空定标方法时,能够有效减少平均辐射温度对其定标误差的影响.      

Measurements of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere during tropical cyclones using the GPS radio occultation technique

Water vapour transport to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere by deep convective storms affects the radiation balance of the atmosphere and has been proposed as an important component of climate change. The aim of the work presented here is to understand if the GPS radio occultation technique is useful for characterization of this process. Our assessment addresses the question if severe storms leave a significant signature in radio occultation profiles in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere. Radio occultation data from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) were analyzed, focusing on two particular tropical cyclones with completely different characteristics, the hurricane Bertha, which formed in the Atlantic Basin during July 2008 and reached a maximum intensity of Category 3, and the typhoon Hondo, which formed in the south Indian Ocean during 2008 reaching a maximum intensity of Category 4. The result is positive, suggesting that the bending angle of a GPS radio occultation signal contains interesting information on the atmosphere around the tropopause, but not any information regarding the water vapour. The maximum percentage anomaly of bending angle between 14 and 18 km of altitude during tropical cyclones is typically larger than the annual mean by 5–15% and it can reach 20% for extreme cases. The results are discussed in connection to the GPS radio occultation receiver which will be part of the Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) payload on the International Space Station.