Narrowband filter radiometer for ground-based measurements of global ultraviolet solar irradiance and total ozone

The ultraviolet narrowband filter radiometer (UV-RAD) designed by the authors to take ground-based measurements of UV solar irradiance, total ozone, and biological dose rate is described, together with the main characteristics of the seven blocked filters mounted on it, all of which have full widths at half maxima that range 0.67 to 0.98 nm. We have analyzed the causes of cosine response and calibration errors carefully to define the corresponding correction terms, paying particular attention to those that are due to the spectral displacements of the filter transmittance peaks from the integer wavelength values. The influence of the ozone profile on the retrieved ozone at large solar zenith angles has also been examined by means of field measurements. The opportunity of carrying out nearly monochromatic irradiance measurements offered by the UV-RAD allowed us to improve the procedure usually followed to reconstruct the solar spectrum at the surface by fitting the computed results, using radiative transfer models with field measurements of irradiance. Two long-term comparison campaigns took place, showing that a mean discrepancy of +0.3% exists between the UV-RAD total ozone values and those given by the Brewer #63 spectroradiometer and that mean differences of +0.3% and -0.9% exist between the erythemal dose rates determined with the UV-RAD and those obtained with the Brewer #63 and the Brewer #104 spectroradiometers, respectively.     

Absolute spectral measurements of direct solar ultraviolet irradiance with a Brewer spectrophotometer

A methodology for the absolute calibration of spectral measurements of direct solar ultraviolet radiation, performed with a Brewer spectrophotometer is presented. The method uses absolute measurements of global and diffuse solar irradiance obtained practically simultaneously at each wavelength with the direct-Sun component. On the basis of this calibration, direct-Sun spectra, measured over a wide range of solar zenith angles at a high altitude site, were used to determine the extraterrestrial solar spectrum by applying the Langley extrapolation method. Finally this spectrum is compared with a solar spectrum derived from the airborne tunable laser absorption spectrometer 3 Space Shuttle mission, showing an agreement of better than +/-3%.     

Analysis of direct solar ultraviolet irradiance measurements in the French Alps. Retrieval of turbidity and ozone column amount

Direct ultraviolet spectral solar irradiance is regularly obtained by the difference between global and diffuse irradiances at the French Alpine station of Brian?on; the data of years 2001 and 2002 are analyzed in this paper. Comparison with modeled values is used for cloud screening, and an average UV-A aerosol optical depth is used as an index of turbidity; it is found to be around 0.05 for the clear winter days and around 0.2 in summer. Langley plots are used to verify the instrument calibration; they confirm the expected uncertainty smaller than 5%. The ozone total column amount is estimated with an uncertainty between -3 and Dobson units; comparisons with TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) overpass values shows agreement within the expected uncertainties of both instruments.     

Celestial body irradiance determination from an underfilled satellite radiometer: application to albedo and thermal emission measurements of the Moon using CERES

The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) is a program that measures the Earth radiation budget (ERB) from two polar orbiting satellite platforms. CERES radiometers are designed to make stable broadband measurements of scattered solar and emitted thermal radiative flux leaving Earth with an accuracy of 1% or better. Using versatile and programmable scan modes, it is also possible for every CERES instrument to view the Moon on each orbit. However, until now, it has not been possible to derive absolute measurements of lunar irradiance using CERES because the Moon's disk fills only 10% of the telescope field of view. This work presents a method of integrating CERES raster-scan data in order to obtain a measurement of the average scattered solar and emitted thermal radiance from the entire lunar disk. The technique results in excellent agreement between CERES instruments on different satellites as to lunar albedo and emitted thermal flux. The average broadband Moon albedo is measured by CERES at a value of 0.1362 (+/-2-3%) when normalized to a static lunar phase angle of 7 degrees using the U.S. Geological Survey lunar irradiance Robotic Lunar Observatory model. The method for the first time also yields very accurate measurements of the thermal irradiance emitted from the Moon. These suggest an average long-wave flux of 977 Wm(-2) (+/-2-3% at 7 degrees phase), implying an approximate mean surface temperature of around 92 degrees C. Statistical analysis on available data suggests that a CERES instrument performing monthly lunar measurements could utilize the Moon as a stability target and reduce calibration drifts to 0.3% per decade or less within an instrument's lifetime. Given the success of the technique, a solar calibration system is proposed that will allow precise tracking of an ERB instrument's optical degradation using the Sun.     

Improving solar ultraviolet irradiance measurements by applying a temperature correction method for Teflon diffusers

To establish trends in surface ultraviolet radiation levels, accurate and stable long-term measurements are required. The accuracy level of today's measurements has become high enough to notice even smaller effects that influence instrument sensitivity. Laboratory measurements of the sensitivity of the entrance optics have shown a decrease of as much as 0.07-0.1%/deg temperature increase. Since the entrance optics can heat to greater than 45 degrees C in Dutch summers, corrections are necessary. A method is developed to estimate the entrance optics temperatures from pyranometer measurements and meteorological data. The method enables us to correct historic data records for which temperature information is not available. The temperature retrieval method has an uncertainty of less than 2.5 degrees C, resulting in a 0.3% uncertainty in the correction to be performed. The temperature correction improves the agreement between modeled and measured doses and instrument intercomparison as performed within the Quality Assurance of Spectral Ultraviolet Measurements in Europe project. The retrieval method is easily transferable to other instruments.     

Direct-Sun column ozone retrieval by the ultraviolet multifilter rotating shadow-band radiometer and comparison with those from Brewer and Dobson spectrophotometers

A methodology for direct-Sun ozone retrieval using the ultraviolet multifilter rotating shadow-band radiometer (UV-MFRSR) is presented. Total vertical column ozone was retrieved in three stations: Mauna Loa, Hawaii, in the U.S., and Regina, Saskatchewan, and Toronto, Ontario, in Canada, from direct solar irradiances of the UV-MFRSR at 325-, 305-, 332-, and 311-nm channels (2-nm FWHM). The total uncertainty of ozone retrievals in this study is +/-2.0%. For Mauna Loa the mean ratios of the UV-MFRSR column ozone retrievals to the collocated Dobson and Brewer were 0.998 and 0.986 between May and September of 1999. The mean ratio of UV-MFRSR retrievals to the collocated Brewer retrievals was 1.012 in Toronto between April and August of 1999, and the mean ratio of retrievals of the UV-MFRSR to the collocated Brewer was 0.988 in Regina between June and September of 1999. Total vertical column ozone values for solar zenith angles of >70 degrees were not considered, because of the signal-to-noise ratio and the angular response of the instruments, and were not used in the evaluation. The advantages of total vertical column ozone retrieval using UV-MFRSR include relatively low cost, computer-controlled operation, automated calibration stability checks, and minimal maintenance. It allows for the real-time measurement of total vertical column ozone. The UV-MFRSR is being used at 28 sites across the United States and 2 sites in Canada that form the U.S. Department of Agriculture UV-B Radiation Monitoring and Research Program. This constitutes a unique network of total vertical colunm ozone measurement.     

On the determination of the thermal diffusion factor from column measurements

A new method for experimental determination of the thermal diffusion factor _T for binary gas mixtures with a thermal diffusion column (TDC) is developed, based on A. M. Rozen's equation of TDC. The experimental results for _T are obtained in a reduced form in this approximation. An experimental reference point, determined in the same TDC with a standard gas mixture, is used for the transformation of the results for _T in absolute units. The proposed method is applicable for arbitrary gas mixtures, irrespective of the mass difference of the components.     

Carbon monoxide total column retrievals by use of the measurements of pollution in the troposphere airborne test radiometer

The Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) Airborne Test Radiometer (MATR) uses gas correlation filter radiometry from high-altitude aircraft to measure tropospheric carbon monoxide. This radiometer is used in support of the ongoing validation campaign for the MOPITT instrument aboard the Earth Observation System Terra satellite. A recent study of MATR CO retrievals that used data from the autumn of 2001 in the western United States is presented. Retrievals of the CO total column were performed and compared to in situ sampling with less than 10% retrieval error. Effects that influence retrieval, such as instrument sensitivity, retrieval sensitivity, and the bias between observations and the radiative transfer model, are discussed. Comparisons of MATR and MOPITT retrievals show promising consistency. A preliminary interpretation of MATR results is also presented.     

Using shaded filter instruments for measurements of sky radiance: retrieval of the apparent sky-view factor from ultraviolet radiation measurements

There is a growing need for sky radiometric measurements that encapsulate spatial as well as temporal variability. Since the advent of fast data acquisition systems in the 1980s, recent studies have utilized radiation filter instruments deployed in various sky-shading platforms. One cost effective method provides azimuthally averaged sky radiance distribution data at time scales down to fractions of a minute. Successful operation of this scheme requires knowledge of the apparent sky-view factor of the deployed sensor--an artifact of the instrument input optics, instrument filter design, and the instrument shading device employed. We provide a methodology for a determination of the sensor sky-view factor by using the employed shading device and the sun as a light source. The effect of an incorrect determination of instrument sky-view factor is also analyzed in context of the measurements.     

Ozone and water-vapor measurements by Raman lidar in the planetary boundary layer: error sources and field measurements

A new lidar instrument has been developed to measure tropospheric ozone and water vapor at low altitude. The lidar uses Raman scattering of an UV beam from atmospheric nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor to retrieve ozone and water-vapor vertical profiles. By numerical simulation we investigate the sensitivity of the method to both atmospheric and device perturbations. The aerosol optical effect in the planetary boundary layer, ozone interference in water-vapor retrieval, statistical error, optical cross talk between Raman-shifted channels, and optical cross talk between an elastically backscattered signal in Raman-shifted signals and an afterpulse effect are studied in detail. In support of the main conclusions of this model study, time series of ozone and water vapor obtained at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and during a field campaign in Crete are presented. They are compared with point monitor and balloon sounding measurements for daytime and nighttime conditions.     

Effects of the concentration-dependent density on liquid separation in a thermal-diffusion column

An analysis is given for the solution to a system of equations describing the separation in a liquid thermal-diffusion column. Similarity numbers are derived for the effects of concentration and thermal expansion on the separation. A method is given for calculating the thermal-diffusion constant that eliminates the effects of concentration on the density.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 12, No. 5, pp. 790–794, May, 1970.     

High resolution strain measurements by direct observation in the scanning electron microscope

A technique for measuring strain with an accuracy of ±100 by direct observation in the scanning electron microscope has been developed and tested. The technique involves placing a fine metallic mesh loosely on the surface of a tensile coupon and observing the motion of the surface with respect to this mesh. It was evaluated by tensile loading of aluminium and carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy specimens for strains up to 600 using an instrumented miniature loading stage. Applications and limitations of the technique have been discussed.     

Accuracy of determination of the density of a gas by the multibeam-interferometry method

We estimate the accuracy of the determination of the density of a gas in rarefied streams by using the photometric method of multibeam interferometry. We give the numerical values of the relative error in the measurements for various experimental conditions.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 50–52, January, 1977.     

Characterization of a cracked specimen with full-field measurements: direct determination of the crack tip and energy release rate calculation

The crack characterization in a pre-cracked aluminum specimen is investigated in this study using the grid method. The images of this grid are analyzed to provide the crack tip location as well as the displacement and strain fields on the surface of the specimen during a tensile test. Experimental data are used to calculate the energy release rate with the compliance method A fracture analysis is also performed using the invariant M $\uptheta $ integral in which both real and virtual displacement fields are introduced. This integral is implemented in the finite element software Cast3M. Both approaches give similar results in 2D case.     

Assessment of the ultraviolet radiation field in ocean waters from space-based measurements and full radiative-transfer calculations

Quantitative assessment of the UV effects on aquatic ecosystems requires an estimate of the in-water radiation field. Actual ocean UV reflectances are needed for improving the total ozone retrievals from the total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) and the ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) flown on NASA's Aura satellite. The estimate of underwater UV radiation can be done on the basis of measurements from the TOMS/OMI and full models of radiative transfer (RT) in the atmosphere-ocean system. The Hydrolight code, modified for extension to the UV, is used for the generation of look-up tables for in-water irradiances. A look-up table for surface radiances generated with a full RT code is input for the Hydrolight simulations. A model of seawater inherent optical properties (IOPs) is an extension of the Case 1 water model to the UV. A new element of the IOP model is parameterization of particulate matter absorption based on recent in situ data. A chlorophyll product from ocean color sensors is input for the IOP model. Verification of the in-water computational scheme shows that the calculated diffuse attenuation coefficient Kd is in good agreement with the measured Kd.     

On the direct determination of the near-tip stress field for the scattering of SH-waves by a crack

A procedure is given for the direct determination of the near-tip stress field arising from the scattering of a normally incident SH-wave by a crack in a homogeneous, isotropic elastic medium. The analysis, which circumvents the construction of the global solution of the problem, is based on a conservation law associated with the relevant field equation.

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Résumé On donne une procédure pour la détermination directe du champ de contraintes près de l'extrémité d'une fissure, qui résulte de la dispersion d'une onde incidente de cisaillement antiplanaire sur une fissure dans un corps élastique homogène et isotrope. L'analyse est basée sur une loi de conservation associée à une équation adéquate du champ, et permet d'éviter la construction d'une solution globale pour ce problème.

     

Temperature determination by solubility measurements and a study of evaporation of volatile components in LPE

When growing different structures by LPE it is necessary to know exactly the temperature on the boundary between the liquid and solid phases. That temperature can not be measured directly by a thermocouple because normally it is located at some distance from this boundary and in any LPE system there are always unknown temperature gradients. However the interface temperature and its distribution along the LPE boat can be determined by solubility measurements. The accuracy of such measurements will be affected by several factors and phenomena. One of such effects is related to the evaporation of volatile components. In this work we have used In–P liquid solutions and its phase diagram to determine the temperature distribution along an LPE boat and have also studied the effect of phosphorus evaporation. It is shown that phosphorus evaporation can be neglected for temperatures under 650°C but at higher temperatures it is significant.