Subsidence rate monitoring of Aghajari oil field based on Differential SAR Interferometry

Land subsidence, due to natural or anthropogenic processes, causes significant costs in both economic and structural aspects. That part of subsidence observed most is the result of human activities, which relates to underground exploitation. Since the gradual surface deformation is a consequence of hydrocarbon reservoirs extraction, the process of displacement monitoring is amongst the petroleum industry priorities. Nowadays, Differential SAR Interferometry, in which satellite images are utilized for elevation change detection and analysis – in a millimetre scale, has proved to be a more real-time and cost-effective technology in contrast to the traditional surveying method. In this study, surface displacements in Aghajari oil field, i.e. one of the most industrious Iranian hydrocarbon sites, are being examined using radar observations. As in a number of interferograms, the production wells inspection reveals that surface deformation signals develop likely due to extraction in a period of several months. In other words, different subsidence or uplift rates and deformation styles occur locally depending on the geological conditions and excavation rates in place.     

Response of the EIA ionosphere to the 7-8 May 2005 geomagnetic storm

In this paper, response of low latitude ionosphere to a moderate geomagnetic storm of 7–8 May 2005 (SSC: 1920 UT on 7 May with Sym-H minimum, ∼−112 nT around 1600 UT on 8 May) has been investigated using the GPS measurements from a near EIA crest region, Rajkot (Geog. 22.29°N, 70.74°E, Geomag.14°), India. We found a decrease in total electron content (TEC) in 12 h after the onset of the storm, an increase during and after 6 h of Sym-H deep minimum with a decrease below its usual-day level on the second day during the recovery phase of the storm. On 8 May, an increase of TEC is observed after sunset and during post-midnight hours (maximum up to 170%) with the formation of ionospheric plasma bubbles followed by a nearly simultaneous onset of scintillations at L-band frequencies following the time of rapid decrease in Sym-H index (−30 nT/h around 1300 UT).     

Time-dependent thermal X-ray afterglows from GRBS

Time-dependent thermal X-ray spectra are calculated from physically plausible conditions around GRB. It is shown that account for time-dependent ionization processes strongly affects the observed spectra of hot rarefied plasma. These calculations may provide an alternative explanation to the observed X-ray lines of early GRBs afterglows (such as GRB 011211). Our technique will allow one to obtain independent constraints on the GRB collimation angle and on the clumpiness of circumstellar matter.     

Residual chromatin breaks as biodosimetry for cell killing by carbon ions

We have studied the relationship between cell killing and the induction of residual chromatin breaks on various human cell lines and primary cultured cells obtained by biopsy from patients irradiated with either X-rays or heavy-ion beams to identify potential bio-marker of radiosensitivity for radiation-induced cell killing. The carbon-ion beams were accelerated with the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC). Six primary cultures obtained by biopsy from 6 patients with carcinoma of the cervix were irradiated with two different mono-LET beams (LET= 13 keV/μm, 76 keV/μm) and 200kV X rays. Residual chromatin breaks were measured by counting the number of non-rejoining chromatin fragments detected by the premature chromosome condensation (PCC) technique after a 24 hour postirradiation incubation period. The induction rate of residual chromatin breaks per cell per Gy was the highest for 76 keV/μm beams on all of the cells. Our results indicated that cell which was more sensitive to the cell killing was similarly more susceptible to induction of residual chromatin breaks. Furthermore there is a good correlation between these two end points in various cell lines and primary cultured cells. This suggests that the detection of residual chromatin breaks by the PCC technique may be useful as a predictive assay of tumor response to cancer radiotherapy.     

Neurobiological problems in long-term deep space flights.

Future missions in space may involve long-term travel beyond the magnetic field of the Earth, subjecting astronauts to radiation hazards posed by solar flares and galactic cosmic rays, altered gravitation fields and physiological stress. Thus, it is critical to determine if there will be any reversible or irreversible, detrimental neurological effects from this prolonged exposure to space. A question of particular importance focuses on the long-term effects of the space environment on the central nervous system (CNS) neuroplasticity, with the potential acute and/or delayed effects that such perturbations might entail. Although the short-term effects of microgravity on neural control were studied on previous low earth orbit missions, the late consequences of stress in space, microgravity and space radiation have not been addressed sufficiently at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels. The possibility that space flight factors can interact influencing the neuroplastic response in the CNS looms critical issue not only to understand the ontogeny of the CNS and its functional integrity, but also, ultimately the performance of astronauts in extended space forays. The purpose of this paper is to review the neurobiological modifications that occur in the CNS exposed to the space environment, and its potential consequences for extended deep space flight.     

Satellite and ground detection of very dense smoke clouds produced on the islands of the Paraná river delta that affected a large region in Central Argentina

Intense fires were produced on the Paraná river delta islands, Argentina, during most part of 2008, by a combination of an exceptionally dry period and the farmers’ use of a fire land-cleaning technique. In April 2008, those fires significantly affected the nearby regions and their inhabitants, from Rosario city to Buenos Aires mega-city. In this work we present satellite as well as ground Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) at 550 nm data obtained during the propagation of pollution clouds to the central zone of Argentina. The highest value (1.18) was registered at Buenos Aires by atmospheric remote sensing, using the satellite instrument MODIS/Terra on April 18th 2008 at 10:35 local time (= UT − 3 h). On the same day, ground air quality detectors also measured in this city the highest Total Suspended Particle (TSP) value of the month, 2.02 mg/m³. The AOD(550) daily variation at Rosario Astronomical Observatory, which is located near the Paraná riverside, was derived by combining solar ultraviolet erythemal irradiance data (measured with a YES biometre) with model calculations. On April 25th 2008, from 12:00 to 15:30 local time, a rather high and constant AOD(550) value was registered, with a mean value of (0.90 ± 0.21). Cities located on the side of the Rosario–Buenos Aires highway (San Nicolás, Baradero and San Pedro) were also affected, showing a mean AOD(550) between the Rosario and Buenos Aires values. The particulate matter was collected with gridded samplers placed on the Paraná river islands as well as at the Rosario Observatory. They were analysed with a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and mainly showed a biological origin. Even if normally large particles travel small distances from the source, organic aerosol in the range of 40–100 μm and complex asymmetric structures were registered several kilometres away from the aerosol sources on the islands. Another event of intense UV index attenuation (98.6%) occurred on September 18th 2008, due to very dense smoke clouds that extended over the Rosario area for several hours. The clouds were driven away from the fires by East–northeast and East–southeast winds. The minimum value of this index measured around noon allows to derive a maximum AOD(550)_max = (3.65 ± 0.90) at 12:45 local time. Soot clouds extended over the Paraná river, transporting Burned Biomass Debris (BBD) that deposited on Rosario. In particular, burned leaves and small branches with dimensions of 1–20 cm were collected. The mean (BBD) particles deposited on the ground from 7:00 to 19:00 local time were (0.92 ± 0.20) BBD/(m² h).     

A debris image tracking using optical flow algorithm

This study proposes a motion detection and object tracking technique for GEO debris in a sequence of images. A couple of techniques (called the “stacking method” and “line-identifying technique”) were recently proposed to address the same problem. Although these techniques are effective at detecting the debris position and motion in the image sequences, there are some issues concerned with computational load and assumed debris motion. This study derives a method to estimate motion vectors of objects in image sequence and finally detect the debris locations by using a computer vision technique called an optical flow algorithm. The new method detects these parameters in low computational time in a serial manner, which implies that it has an advantage to track not only linear but also nonlinear motion of GEO debris more easily than the previous methods. The feasibility of the proposed methods is validated using real and synthesized image sequences which contain some typical debris motions.     

Solar cycle and latitude dependence of high-beta suprathermal plasma conditions in interplanetary space between 1.3 and 5.4 AU

The analysis of energetic particles and magnetic field measurements from the Ulysses spacecraft has shown that in a series of events, the energy density contained in the suprathermal tail particle distribution is comparable to or larger than that of the magnetic field, creating conditions of high-beta plasma. In this work we analyze periods of high-beta suprathermal plasma occurrences (β_ep > 1) in interplanetary space, using the ratio (β_ep) of the energetic particle (20 keV to ∼5 MeV) and magnetic field energy densities from measurements covering the entire Ulysses mission lifetime (1990–2009) in order to reveal new or to reconfirm some recently defined interesting characteristics. The main key-results of the work are summarized as follows: (i) we verify that high-beta events are detected within well identified regions corresponding mainly to the vicinity of shock surfaces and magnetic structures, and associated with energetic particle intensity enhancements due to (a) reacceleration at shock-fronts and (b) unusually large magnetic field depressions. (ii) We define three considerable features for the high-beta events, concentrated on the next points: (a) there is an appreciable solar-activity influence on the high-beta events, during the maximum and middle solar-cycle phase, (b) the annual peak magnitude and the number of occurrences of high events are well correlated with the sunspot number, (c) the high-beta suprathermal plasma events present a spatial distribution in heliographic latitudes (HL) up to ∼±80°, and a specific important concentration on the low (−25° ? HL < −6°, 6° < HL ? 25°) and median (−45° ? HL < −25°, 25° < HL ? 45°) latitudes. We also reconfirm by a statistical analysis the results of Marhavilas and Sarris (2011), that the high-beta suprathermal plasma (β_ep > 1) events are characterized by a very large parameter β_ep (up to 1732.5), a great total duration (406 days) and a large percentage of the Ulysses-mission lifetime (which is equal to 6.34% of the total duration with usable measurements, and 11.3% of the duration in presence of suprathermal particles events).