工件表面轮廓均方根斜率的光散射测量

描述并确定具有明显纹理粗糙表面均方根斜率的光散射技术(均方根斜率是联合表面轮廓高度和波长特性的混合参数)。称为散射光锥法(The scattered light-conemethod)的该技术是基于激光角散射检测阵列(DALLAS——Defector Array for Laser LishtAngular Scattering),它用于测量粗糙表面散射光角分布的仪器。均方根斜率是从DALLAS光散射图象的角宽得到的。一般可以发现角宽(即估计的均方根斜率)对光的入射角和散射角变化相当大时是不敏感的。这些结果与表面材料无关,并且对正弦和随机粗糙表面都是有效的。介绍了散射光锥法的测量原理、实验、数据分析和几点结论。     

Current status of X-ray spectrometer development in the SELENE project

The X-ray spectrometer (XRS) on the SELENE (SELenological and ENgineering Explorer) spacecraft, XRS, will observe fluorescent X-rays from the lunar surface. The energy of the fluorescent X-ray depends on the elements of which the lunar soil consists, therefore we can determine elemental composition of the upper most lunar surface. The XRS consists of three components: XRF-A, SOL-B, and SOL-C. XRF-A is the main sensor to observe X-rays from the lunar surface. SOL-B is direct monitor of Solar X-ray using Si-PIN photodiode. SOL-C is another Solar X-ray monitor but observes the X-rays from the standard sample attached on the base plate. This enables us to analyze by a comparative method similar to typical laboratory XRF methods. XRF-A and SOL-C adopt charge coupled device as an X-ray detector which depletion layer is deep enough to detect X-rays. The X-ray spectra were obtained by the flight model of XRS components, and all components has been worked well to analyze fluorescent X-rays. Currently, development of the hardware and software of the XRS has been finished and we are preparing for system integration test for the launch.     

Development of a gas chromatography compatible Sample Processing System (SPS) for the in-situ analysis of refractory organic matter in martian soil: preliminary results

In the frame of the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission a new sample preparation system (SPS) compatible with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) has been developed for the in situ analysis of complex organic molecules in the Martian soil. The goal is to detect, if they exist, some of the key compounds that play an important role in life on Earth including carboxylic acids, amino acids and nucleobases.     

Report on the Kiso cometary dust trail survey

Cometary dust trails were first observed by IRAS; they are widely known to be the origins of meteoric showers. A new window has been opened for the study of dust trails, using ground-based observations. We succeeded in obtaining direct images of the 22P/Kopff dust trail with the Kiso 1.05-m Schmidt telescope. Following this initial success, we have continued to perform a dust trail survey at Kiso. As a result of this survey, we have detected dust trails along the orbit of six periodic comets, between February 2002 and March 2004. The optical depth of these dust trails are 10⁻⁹ to 10⁻⁸, which is consistent with IRAS measurements. In this paper, we describe the observations and data reduction procedures, and report the brief result obtained between February 2002 and March 2004.     

The hydroxyl radical as an indicator of SEP fluxes in the high-latitude terrestrial atmosphere

The low background values at nighttime of the mesospheric hydroxyl (OH) radical make it easier to single out the atmospheric response to the external solar forcing in Polar Regions. Because of the short lifetime of HO_x, it is possible to follow the trails of Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events in the terrestrial atmosphere, as shown by Storini and Damiani (2008). The sensitivity of this indicator makes discernible not only extreme particle events with a flux peak of several thousand pfu [1 pfu = 1 particle/(cm² s sr)] at energies >10 MeV, but also those with lower flux up to about 300 pfu. Using data from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on board the EOS AURA satellite, we examined the correlation of OH abundance vs. solar proton flux for almost all the identified SEP events spanning from November 2004 to December 2006 (later on no more SEP events occurred during Solar Cycle no. 23). The channels at energies greater than 5 MeV and 10 MeV showed the best correlation values (r ∼ 0.90–0.95) at altitudes around 65–75 km whereas, as expected, the most energetic channels were most highly correlated at lower altitudes. Therefore, it is reasonably possible to estimate the solar proton flux from values of mesospheric OH (and viceversa) and it could be useful in studying periods with gaps in the records of solar particles.     

Improved rainfall estimation over the Indian region using satellite infrared technique

The GOES Precipitation Index (GPI) technique (Arkin, 1979) for rainfall estimation has been in operation for the last three decades. However, its applications are limited to the larger temporal and spatial scales. The present study focuses on the augmentation on GPI technique by incorporating a moisture factor for the environmental correction developed by Vicente et al. (1998). It consists of two steps; in the first step the GPI technique is applied to the Kalpana-IR data for rainfall estimation over the Indian land and oceanic region and in the second step an environmental moisture correction factor is applied to the GPI-based rainfall to estimate the final rainfall. Detailed validation with rain gauges and comparison with Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) merged data product (3B42) are performed and it is found that the present technique is able to estimate the rainfall with better accuracy than the GPI technique over higher temporal and spatial domains for many operational applications in and around the Indian regions using Indian geostationary satellite data. Further comparison with the Doppler Weather Radar shows that the present technique is able to retrieve the rainfall with reasonably good accuracy.     

Ionospheric response of equatorial and low latitude F-region during the intense geomagnetic storm on 24–25 August 2005

In this investigation, we present and discuss the response of the ionospheric F-region in the South American and East Asian sectors during an intense geomagnetic storm in August 2005. The geomagnetic storm studied reached a minimum Dst of −216 nT at 12:00 UT on 24 August. In this work ionospheric sounding data obtained of 24, 25, and 26 August 2005 at Palmas (PAL; 10.2° S, 48.2° W; dip latitude 6.6° S), São José dos Campos (SJC, 23.2° S, 45.9° W; dip latitude 17.6° S), Brazil, Ho Chi Minh City, (HCM; 10.5° N, 106.3° E; dip latitude 2.9° N), Vietnam, Okinawa (OKI; 26.3° N, 127.8° E; dip latitude 21.2° N), Japan, are presented. Also, the GPS observations obtained at different stations in the equatorial and low-latitude regions in the Brazilian sector are presented. On the night of 24–25 August 2005, the h′F variations show traveling ionospheric disturbances associated with Joule heating in the auroral zone from SJC to PAL. The foF2 variations show a positive storm phase on the night of 24–25 August at PAL and SJC during the recovery phase. Also, the GPS-VTEC observations at several stations in the Brazilian sector show a fairly similar positive storm phase on 24 August. During the fast decrease of Dst (between 10:00 and 11:00 UT) on 24 August, there is a prompt penetration of electric field of magnetospheric origin that result in abrupt increase (∼12:00 UT) in foF2 at PAL, SJC (Brazil) and OKI (Japan) and in VTEC at IMPZ, BOMJ, PARA and SMAR (Brazil). OKI showed strong oscillations of the F-region on the night 24 August resulted to the propagation of traveling atmospheric disturbances (TADs) by Joule heating in the auroral region. These effects result a strong positive observed at OKI station. During the daytime on 25 August, in the recovery phase, the foF2 observations showed positive ionospheric storm at HCM station. Some differences in the latitudinal response of the F-region is also observed in the South American and East Asian sectors.