Are small-scale field-aligned currents and magnetosheath-like particle precipitation signatures of the same low-altitude cusp?

We examined some 75 observations from the low-altitude Earth orbiting DMSP, Ørsted and CHAMP satellites which were taken in the region of the nominal cusp. Our objective was to determine whether the actually observed cusp locations as inferred from magnetosheath-like particle precipitation (“particle cusp”) and intense small-scale magnetic field variations (“current cusp”), respectively, were identical and were consistent with the statistically expected latitude of the cusp derived from a huge number of charged particle spectrograms (“statistical cusp”).     

Earth observation from space – The issue of environmental sustainability

Remote sensing scientists work under assumptions that should not be taken for granted and should, therefore, be challenged. These assumptions include the following:1. Space, especially Low Earth Orbit (LEO), will always be available to governmental and commercial space entities that launch Earth remote sensing missions.2. Space launches are benign with respect to environmental impacts.3. Minimization of Type 1 error, which provides increased confidence in the experimental outcome, is the best way to assess the significance of environmental change.4. Large-area remote sensing investigations, i.e. national, continental, global studies, are best done from space.5. National space missions should trump international, cooperative space missions to ensure national control and distribution of the data products.At best, all of these points are arguable, and in some cases, they're wrong. Development of observational space systems that are compatible with sustainability principles should be a primary concern when Earth remote sensing space systems are envisioned, designed, and launched. The discussion is based on the hypothesis that reducing the environmental impacts of the data acquisition step, which is at the very beginning of the information stream leading to decision and action, will enhance coherence in the information stream and strengthen the capacity of measurement processes to meet their stated functional goal, i.e. sustainable management of Earth resources. We suggest that unconventional points of view should be adopted and when appropriate, remedial measures considered that could help to reduce the environmental footprint of space remote sensing and of Earth observation and monitoring systems in general. This article discusses these five assumptions in the context of sustainable management of Earth's resources. Taking each assumption in turn, we find the following:(1) Space debris may limit access to Low Earth Orbit over the next decades.(2) Relatively speaking, given that they're rare event, space launches may be benign, but study is merited on upper stratospheric and exospheric layers given the chemical activity associated with rocket combustion by-products.(3) Minimization of Type II error should be considered in situations where minimization of Type I error greatly hampers or precludes our ability to correct the environmental condition being studied.(4) In certain situations, airborne collects may be less expensive and more environmentally benign, and comparative studies should be done to determine which path is wisest.(5) International cooperation and data sharing will reduce instrument and launch costs and mission redundancy. Given fiscal concerns of most of the major space agencies – e.g. NASA, ESA, CNES – it seems prudent to combine resources.     

Survival and death of the haloarchaeon Natronorubrum strain HG-1 in a simulated martian environment

Halophilic archaea are of interest to astrobiology due to their survival capabilities in desiccated and high salt environments. The detection of remnants of salty pools on Mars stimulated investigations into the response of haloarchaea to martian conditions. Natronorubrum sp. strain HG-1 is an extremely halophilic archaeon with unusual metabolic pathways, growing on acetate and stimulated by tetrathionate. We exposed Natronorubrum strain HG-1 to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, similar to levels currently prevalent on Mars. In addition, the effects of low temperature (4, −20, and −80 °C), desiccation, and exposure to a Mars soil analogue from the Atacama desert on the viability of Natronorubrum strain HG-1 cultures were investigated. The results show that Natronorubrum strain HG-1 cannot survive for more than several hours when exposed to UV radiation equivalent to that at the martian equator. Even when protected from UV radiation, viability is impaired by a combination of desiccation and low temperature. Desiccating Natronorubrum strain HG-1 cells when mixed with a Mars soil analogue impaired growth of the culture to below the detection limit. Overall, we conclude that Natronorubrum strain HG-1 cannot survive the environment currently present on Mars. Since other halophilic microorganisms were reported to survive simulated martian conditions, our results imply that survival capabilities are not necessarily shared between phylogenetically related species.     

The origin of the prompt optical emission in GRB 060111B

The detection of a bright optical emission measured with good temporal resolution during the prompt phase makes GRB 060111B a rare event that is especially useful for constraining theories of the prompt optical emission. Comparing this burst with other GRBs with evidence of optical peaks, we find that the optical peak epoch (t_p) is anti-correlated with the high energy burst energetic assuming an isotropic energy release (E_iso) in agreement with Liang et al. (2009), and that the steeper is the post-peak afterglow decay, the less is the agreement with the correlation. GRB 060111B is among the latters and it does not match the correlation. The Cannonball scenario is also discussed and we find that this model cannot be excluded for GRB 060111B.     

前台阶流场的传热实验研究

本文尝试用瞬态实验方法, 在卢德威格风洞实验台上, 对小台阶高度 (H=4.0mm)的前台阶二维流场进行传热实验研究, 测定了当雷诺数为 11800至32200时的流场内热流通量和努谢尔特数的变化规律以及努谢尔特数随雷诺数变化的准则关系式。实验结果是令人满意的。      

Structure of a two-phase flow of boiling water at low-head adiabatic efflux through the laval nozzle

The critical flow conditions and structural forms of a two-phase flow that is formed during water efflux from the region of moderate and low pressures into a rarefied medium are analyzed. The difference in the structural forms of a flow realized at the low-head efflux from the structure of a flow occurring in the fluid flow with moderate and high initial pressures is established. The critical pressure differential characterizing the establishment of the maximum flowrate is determined and the decisive influence of turbulence on the vapor phase generation and flow conditions of a two-phase medium is shown.     

The Grain Impact Analyser and Dust Accumulator (GIADA) Experiment for the Rosetta Mission: Design, Performances and First Results

The Grain Impact Analyser and Dust Accumulator (GIADA) onboard the ROSETTA mission to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is devoted to study the cometary dust environment. Thanks to the rendezvous configuration of the mission, GIADA will be plunged in the dust environment of the coma and will be able to explore dust flux evolution and grain dynamic properties with position and time. This will represent a unique opportunity to perform measurements on key parameters that no ground-based observation or fly-by mission is able to obtain and that no tail or coma model elaborated so far has been able to properly simulate. The coma and nucleus properties shall be, then, clarified with consequent improvement of models describing inner and outer coma evolution, but also of models about nucleus emission during different phases of its evolution. GIADA shall be capable to measure mass/size of single particles larger than about 15 μm together with momentum in the range 6.5 × 10⁻¹⁰ ÷ 4.0 × 10⁻⁴ kg m s⁻¹ for velocities up to about 300 m s⁻¹. For micron/submicron particles the cumulative mass shall be detected with sensitivity 10⁻¹⁰ g. These performances are suitable to provide a statistically relevant set of data about dust physical and dynamic properties in the dust environment expected for the target comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Pre-flight measurements and post-launch checkouts demonstrate that GIADA is behaving as expected according to the design specifications. The International GIADA Consortium (I, E, UK, F, D, USA).     

The Origin of Mercury’s Internal Magnetic Field

Mariner 10 measurements proved the existence of a large-scale internal magnetic field on Mercury. The observed field amplitude, however, is too weak to be compatible with typical convective planetary dynamos. The Lorentz force based on an extrapolation of Mariner 10 data to the dynamo region is 10⁻⁴ times smaller than the Coriolis force. This is at odds with the idea that planetary dynamos are thought to work in the so-called magnetostrophic regime, where Coriolis force and Lorentz force should be of comparable magnitude. Recent convective dynamo simulations reviewed here seem to resolve this caveat. We show that the available convective power indeed suffices to drive a magnetostrophic dynamo even when the heat flow though Mercury’s core–mantle boundary is subadiabatic, as suggested by thermal evolution models. Two possible causes are analyzed that could explain why the observations do not reflect a stronger internal field. First, toroidal magnetic fields can be strong but are confined to the conductive core, and second, the observations do not resolve potentially strong small-scale contributions. We review different dynamo simulations that promote either or both effects by (1) strongly driving convection, (2) assuming a particularly small inner core, or (3) assuming a very large inner core. These models still fall somewhat short of explaining the low amplitude of Mariner 10 observations, but the incorporation of an additional effect helps to reach this goal: The subadiabatic heat flow through Mercury’s core–mantle boundary may cause the outer part of the core to be stably stratified, which would largely exclude convective motions in this region. The magnetic field, which is small scale, strong, and very time dependent in the lower convective part of the core, must diffuse through the stagnant layer. Here, the electromagnetic skin effect filters out the more rapidly varying high-order contributions and mainly leaves behind the weaker and slower varying dipole and quadrupole components (Christensen in Nature 444:1056–1058, 2006). Messenger and BepiColombo data will allow us to discriminate between the various models in terms of the magnetic fields spatial structure, its degree of axisymmetry, and its secular variation.