Analysis of carbonaceous biomarkers with the Mars Organic Analyzer microchip capillary electrophoresis system: carboxylic acids

The oxidizing surface chemistry on Mars argues that any comprehensive search for organic compounds indicative of life requires methods to analyze higher oxidation states of carbon with very low limits of detection. To address this goal, microchip capillary electrophoresis (μCE) methods were developed for analysis of carboxylic acids with the Mars Organic Analyzer (MOA). Fluorescent derivatization was achieved by activation with the water soluble 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) followed by reaction with Cascade Blue hydrazide in 30 mM borate, pH 3. A standard containing 12 carboxylic acids found in terrestrial life was successfully labeled and separated in 30 mM borate at pH 9.5, 20 °C by using the MOA CE system. Limits of detection were 5-10 nM for aliphatic monoacids, 20 nM for malic acid (diacid), and 230 nM for citric acid (triacid). Polyacid benzene derivatives containing 2, 3, 4, and 6 carboxyl groups were also analyzed. In particular, mellitic acid was successfully labeled and analyzed with a limit of detection of 300 nM (5 ppb). Analyses of carboxylic acids sampled from a lava tube cave and a hydrothermal area demonstrated the versatility and robustness of our method. This work establishes that the MOA can be used for sensitive analyses of a wide range of carboxylic acids in the search for extraterrestrial organic molecules.     

High-energy gamma radiation of solar flares as an indicator of acceleration of energetic protons

Using the SONG detector onboard the CORONAS-F satellite, gamma-ray emission of high energies (>100 MeV) was recorded during four solar flares. In the sequential spectra of gamma rays the peculiarity caused by generation and decay of neutral pions was isolated, which made it possible to determine with a high accuracy the moments of appearance in the solar atmosphere of protons accelerated up to energies above 300 MeV.     

On Truncation Error Bounds for Sampling Representations of Band-Limited Signals

All sampling representations of band-limited signals involve infinite sums. The truncation error associated with a given representation is defined as the difference between the signal and an approximating sum utilizing a finite number of terms. In this paper truncation error is expressed as a contour integral for Lagrange interpolation, general Hermite interpolation, the Shannon series (cardinal series), the Fogel derivative series, and multidimensional sampling expansions. Truncation error bounds are obtained under various constraints on the signal magnitude, spectral smoothness, and energy content.     

High resolution solar ultraviolet measurements

The increase of our understanding of the processes acting in the solar corona and maintaining it is strongly dependent on the quality of the data that are obtained to check theories. The fine structure of the solar atmosphere seen from the photosphere and extending to the hottest parts of the corona requires data with high resolution in all parameter space (angular, spectral and temporal). To constrain the hypotheses that are proposed to describe the solar corona, it is necessary to establish an accurate energy budget taking into account the processes which are acting from the chromosphere to the corona. Some requirements can be established and compared with the data collected so far (or about to be collected) with the present SUMER (Solar Utraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiations) instrumentation.     

Comets, Asteroids and Zodiacal Light as Seen by Iso

ISO performed a large variety of observing programmes on comets, asteroids and zodiacal light – covering about 1% of the archived observations – with a surprisingly rewarding scientific return. Outstanding results were related to the exceptionally bright comet Hale–Bopp and to ISO's capability to study in detail the water spectrum in a direct way. But many other results were broadly recognised: Discovery of new molecules in comets, the studies of crystalline silicates, the work on asteroid surface mineralogy, results from thermophysical studies of asteroids, a new determination of the asteroid number density in the main-belt and last but not least, the investigations on the spatial and spectral features of the zodiacal light.     

Adaptive recognition and correction of baseline shifts from collocated GPS and accelerometer using two phases Kalman filter

The real-time recognition and precise correction of baseline shifts in strong-motion records is a critical issue for GPS and accelerometer combined processing. This paper proposes a method to adaptively recognize and correct baseline shifts in strong-motion records by utilizing GPS measurements using two phases Kalman filter. By defining four kinds of learning statistics and criteria, the time series of estimated baseline shifts can be divided into four time intervals: initialization, static, transient and permanent. During the time interval in which the transient baseline shift is recognized, the dynamic noise of the Kalman filter system and the length of the baseline shifts estimation window are adaptively adjusted to yield a robust integration solution. The validations from an experimental and real datasets show that acceleration baseline shifts can be precisely recognized and corrected, thus, the combined system adaptively adjusted the estimation strategy to get a more robust solution.     

The AWIATOR airborne LIDAR turbulence sensor

The development and first flight tests are described of a short pulse direct measuring UV LIDAR for the measurement of gusts, turbulence and potentially wake vortices. The results of these stage 1 tests confirm that relative wind velocities can be measured with a standard deviation of below 10 m/s even at high altitudes with no appreciable aerosol concentrations. Operating the system under various flight conditions including rain, dense clouds, and clear air up to 24,000 ft was highly successful. Means to push the standard deviation below 1.6 m/s, foremost by increasing the laser output power and the efficiency of the light collecting system, are identified and quantified. Questions of instrument stability are addressed.     

Recent advances in observations and modeling of the solar ultraviolet and X-ray spectral irradiance

There have been significant, recent advances in understanding the solar ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray spectral irradiance from several different satellite missions and from new efforts in modeling the variations of the solar spectral irradiance. The recent satellite missions with solar UV and X-ray spectral irradiance observations include the X-ray Sensor (XRS) aboard the series of NOAA GOES spacecraft, the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), the SOHO Solar EUV Monitor (SEM), the Solar XUV Photometers (SXP) on the Student Nitric Oxide Explorer (SNOE), the Solar EUV Experiment (SEE) aboard the Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Dynamics, and Energetics (TIMED) satellite, and the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite. The combination of these measurements is providing new results on the variability of the solar ultraviolet irradiance throughout the ultraviolet range shortward of 200 nm and over a wide range of time scales ranging from years to seconds. The solar UV variations of flares are especially important for space weather applications and upper atmosphere research, and the period of intense solar storms in October–November 2003 has provided a wealth of new information about solar flares. The new efforts in modeling these solar UV spectral irradiance variations range from simple empirical models that use solar proxies to more complicated physics-based models that use emission measure techniques. These new models provide better understanding and insight into why the solar UV irradiance varies, and they can be used at times when solar observations are not available for atmospheric studies.