Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Atmospheric databases'

Laser-Induced Breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and Laser-Induced Thermal Emission (LITE) emission based laser remote sensing were investigated with the application to the remote measurements of trace chemical species. In particular, UVvisible LIBS and Mid-IR LITE systems were developed and measurements of remote targets and chemical surfaces were studied. The propagation through the atmosphere of the multi-wavelength backscattered LIBS and LITE optical spectrum with atmospheric absorption effects on the returned lidar signal was investigated. An enhanced model of the atmospheric effects on emission-based laser-remote sensing was developed and found to be consistent and in agreement with our experimental results. LITE measurements were performed which involved heating a remote hard target and recording the vibrational band emission spectra produced. Sample heating was carried out using a 1.5W cw-CO2 10.6 μm wavelength laser, and a 9W cw-diode laser operating at 809nm. The emission spectra over the wavelength range of 8 to 14 μm was observed which can be potentially used to detect and identify chemical composition of the target. LITE spectra of DMMP and DIMP (chemical agent simulants), paints, and energetic materials on various substrates were measured for the first time. A LIBS study was carried out with a 1.064 μm Nd:YAG laser (10 ns pulses, 50mJ per pulse) and remote LIBS measurements were performed for aluminum, copper, steel and plastics over the spectral range of 200 – 1000nm. LIBS measurements as a function of range were studied, and compared to a modified lidar equation suitable for emission based lidar remote sensing. A computer simulation model was developed for emission-based LIDAR remote sensing such as LIBS and LITE. This involved the development and modification of atmospheric transmission modeling programs which use the HITRAN, PNNL and other atmospheric spectral databases to model the transmission of the atmosphere over a wide range of wavelengths from the deep-UV near 200 nm to the mid-IR near 14 microns. A comparison of HITRAN simulations with the PNNL database calculated spectra was carried out and used for the first time for improvements of the HITRAN database line intensities. In addition, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the LIBS and LITE lidar return signal as a function of range was performed. This PCA analysis showed, for the first time, the degradation of the chemical selectivity (i.e. identification capability) of the emission lidar system as the range was increased and the effect of atmospheric absorption spectral lines on the propagated LIBS and LITE lidar multi-wavelength spectral signal.

La mesure des concentrations d'espèces traces, susceptibles d'avoir un impact notable sur la santé, le climat ou la stabilité de la couche d'ozone constitue un véritable défi. Les prochaines missions spatiales, prévues à haute sensibilité (FORUM et IASI-NG), apporteront un progrès seulement si les paramètres spectraux nécessaires sont disponibles. Pour certaines espèces réactives, telles que l'acide nitreux (HONO) et l'acide hypobromeux (HOBr), les données spectroscopiques sont incomplètes ou quasiment inexistantes. Le défi dans cette thèse consiste à obtenir des paramètres spectroscopiques quantitatifs pour ces espèces. Pour atteindre cet objectif, un dispositif instrumental novateur impliquant l'utilisation simultanée de deux instruments, une expérience IR/THz, a été construit : une cellule thermostatée (200-350K) conçue en matériaux inertes, verre et téflon, est combinée à un spectromètre THz dans la région 0.1-1.1 THz et un spectromètre à Transformée de Fourier (FTS) à haute résolution (HR) dans le domaine IR. Le spectromètre THz permet de sélectionner plusieurs raies purement rotationnelles de la molécule cible pour la détermination de la pression partielle et le FTS la mesure simultanée du spectre rovibrationnel dans une fenêtre atmosphérique IR utilisable pour la quantification de l'espèce d'intérêt. La stratégie s'appuie donc sur le fait que les intensités des raies de rotation pure dépendent uniquement du moment dipolaire moléculaire, qui est connu avec précision à partir de mesures existantes par effet Stark. Dans le cas de HONO qui n'existe au laboratoire que sous la forme d'un équilibre avec H2O, NO et NO2, la méconnaissance de la pression partielle dans le mélange gazeux entraîne de sérieuses difficultés pour effectuer des mesures quantitatives. De plus, HONO possède deux formes isomériques et la hauteur de la barrière d'isomérisation entre le cis- et le trans-HONO DeltaCis-Trans est encore mal connue, ce qui affecte les positions et surtout les intensités de raies. Pour obtenir une valeur plus précise de cette barrière, des spectres ont été enregistrés à HR dans la gamme 50 - 200 cm-1, à 3 températures (240, 270 et 296 K), en utilisant le rayonnement synchrotron de la ligne AILES à SOLEIL. Des modélisations précises ont été effectuées et ont permis de déterminer la hauteur de la barrière DeltaCis-Trans = 95.8 ± 9.2 cm-1. Notre valeur est en bon accord avec la détermination précédente de Sironneau et al. (99 ± 25 cm-1) mais nous avons amélioré la précision d'un facteur 2.6. Nous avons utilisé cette nouvelle valeur de DeltaCis-Trans et les paramètres du moment dipolaire pour un calcul du spectre synthétique. Une liste de raies précise dans la région de l'IR lointain (0 - 200 cm-1) incluant les positions et intensités absolues a été compilée et s'est avérée plus robuste pour une meilleure détection de HONO dans les objets astrophysiques. Pour la détermination des intensités absolues dans la région IR moyen où HONO est actuellement détectée, des spectres simultanés IR/THz ont été enregistrés au LISA en utilisant l'instrumentation innovante développée durant cette thèse. Une première modélisation de ces spectres est présentée dans cette thèse et in fine, il en découlera une liste de raies pour HONO dans la région 730 - 920 cm-1 qui sera fourni à la communauté scientifique via les bases de données HITRAN et GEISA et exploitée dans l'analyse des observations satellitaires. Concernant HOBr, l'objectif sera de compiler une base de données spectroscopiques dans l'IR vers 8.6 um qui sera utilisée par IASI-NG et FORUM pour une détection et quantification dans l'atmosphère terrestre. Notons que HOBr joue un rôle important dans la chimie atmosphérique et n'existe au laboratoire que dans un mélange caractérisé par l'équilibre chimique : H2O + Br2O = 2(HOBr). La méthodologie et les outils expérimentaux développés durant cette thèse sont un atout pour la mise en oeuvre de ce projet qui, constitue les perspectives de ce travail
Measuring trace gases having a notable impact on human health, climate and the stability of the ozone layer constitutes an extremely important challenge. In the coming years, new, higher sensitivity satellite instruments will improve atmospheric sounding only if the necessary spectral parameters are available. For some species of atmospheric interest such as nitrous acid (HONO) and hypobromous acid (HOBr), spectroscopic data are incomplete or almost non-existent. The challenge in this thesis is to get quantitative spectroscopic parameters for these species. To achieve this objective, an innovative instrumental set-up involving the simultaneous use of two instruments, an IR/THz dual beam experiment, has been built: a thermostatically controlled cell (200-350K) made of inert materials, glass and Teflon, capable of accommodating a 0.1-1.1 THz spectrometer and coupled to a high resolution (HR) Fourier Transform spectrometer (FTS) in the IR range. The THz spectrometer allows to select rotational lines of the target molecule for partial pressure determination, and the FTS enables simultaneous measurement of the rovibrational spectrum in an IR atmospheric window for quantification of the species of interest. The adopted strategy relies on the fact that the intensities of the rotational spectra simply depend on the permanent dipole moment of the molecule of interest, determined with high accuracy from Stark effect measurements. In the case of HONO, which only exists in laboratory conditions in the form of an equilibrium mixture with other species like H2O, NO and NO2, the lack of knowledge of the partial pressure in the gas mixture leads to serious difficulties for quantitative measurements. In addition, HONO exists in two conformer forms, and the height of the conformer barrier between cis- and trans-HONO DeltaCis-Trans is still poorly known, which affects lines positions and especially lines intensities. To improve the determination of the energy difference between the ground vibrational state of the cis- and trans-HONO conformers of HONO, high resolution spectra were recorded in the 50-200 cm-1 spectral region at three different temperatures (240, 270 and 296 K), using the synchrotron radiation of the AILES beamline at SOLEIL. Precise modelling has been performed and were used to determine the height of the conformer barrier DeltaCis-Trans = 95.8 ± 9.2 cm-1. Our value is in good agreement with the previous determination by Sironneau et al (99 ± 25 cm-1), but we have improved the accuracy of this determination by a factor of 2.6. We used this new value of DeltaCis-Trans and the dipole moment parameters for a synthetic spectrum calculation. A precise line list in the far-IR region (0 - 200 cm-1), including positions and absolute lines intensities was generated and, proved to be more robust for an improved detection of HONO in astrophysical objects. To determine absolute intensities in the mid-IR region where HONO is currently detected, simultaneous IR/THz spectra were recorded at LISA using innovative instrumentation developed during this thesis. A first modelling of these spectra is presented in this thesis, and in fine will lead to a much more precise line list for HONO in the 730 - 920 cm-1 region, which will be provided to the scientific community via the HITRAN and GEISA databases and used in the analysis of satellite observations. Regarding HOBr, the aim will be to generate a spectroscopic database in the IR region around 8.6 um, to be used by IASI-NG and FORUM for detection and quantification in the Earth's atmosphere. HOBr plays an important role in atmospheric chemistry and, only exists in laboratory conditions in a mixture characterized by chemical equilibrium: H2O + Br2O = 2(HOBr). The methodology and experimental tools developed during this thesis will be an advantage for implementation of this project, which constitutes the outlook for this work

A albufeira de Alqueva alterou significativamente a paisagem da região e tem impactos no clima ainda pouco documentados. A albufeira, localizada no rio Guadiana, com uma área de 250 quilómetros quadrados, é um grande laboratório natural para o estudo da interacção entre lagos e a atmosfera e foi objecto de estudo no âmbito do projecto ALOP (ALentejo: sistemas de Observação e Previsão). Nesta dissertação, tratamos e analisamos séries de dados das variáveis meteorológicas recolhidas em estações meteorológicas instaladas tanto em Alqueva, numa plataforma flutuante sobre o reservatório e nas margens, como na área circundante no período entre Maio de 2017 e Abril de 2019. Os resultados mostram algumas diferenças notáveis neste período de estudo, entre a estação sobre o lago e as outras estações da região, que se acentuam à medida que a distância ao lago é maior; Abstract: Meteorological characterization in Alqueva: Data processing and analysis. The Alqueva reservoir has significantly changed the landscape of the region and has impacts on the climate that are still poorly documented. The reservoir, located on the Guadiana River, with an area of 250 square kilometres, is a large natural laboratory for the study of the interaction between lakes and the atmosphere and has been studied in the framework of the ALOP (ALentejo: Observation and Forecasting systems) project. In this work we treat and analyse data-series of weather variables collected in meteorological stations installed in Alqueva, on a floating platform over the reservoir and in its shores, and in its surrounding area in the period between May 2017 and April 2019. The results show some exceptional differences during this study period, between the station over the lake and the others in the region, that increase as the distance to the lake increases.

Questa tesi affronta alcuni aspetti della stima delle precipitazioni attraverso misure a microonde effettuate da satellite. Sebbene le tecniche di telerilevamento con radiometri a microonde per la stima delle precipitazioni si siano sviluppate notevolmente negli ultimi anni, ulteriori sviluppi sono apparsi necessari ed alcuni aspetti di queste tecniche costituiscono temi di ricerca attualmente in corso. L’attività svolta in questa tesi ha riguardato, in primo luogo, la costruzione e lo sviluppo dell’algoritmo BAMPR (Bayesian Algorithm for Microwave-based Precipitation Retrieval), basato sulla teoria di Bayes, per la stima della precipitazione attraverso l’elaborazione dei dati (temperature di brillanza) forniti dai radiometri SSM/I, SSMIS e AMSR-E. La prima parte della tesi descrive l’algoritmo completo realizzato, richiamando la teoria di Bayes e descrivendo anche le tecniche di “screening” utilizzate per il corretto trattamento dei dati dei vari “pixel”. Particolare attenzione è stata data inoltre alla descrizione della base di dati usata (CRD - Cloud Radiation Database) e ai test effettuati su di essa. La seconda parte dell’attività ha riguardato l’introduzione, nella procedura di stima della precipitazione, di variabili dinamiche e termodinamiche (“dynamical tags”) da associare alle temperature di brillanza (Cloud Dynamics and Radiation Database (CDRD) approach). Questo sviluppo dell’algoritmo è mirato alla riduzione dei problemi di “ambiguità” (o “non unicità”) che rappresentano attualmente un grave limite della metodologia di stima. I risultati ottenuti con il “nuovo” BAMPR, con l’introduzione delle variabili dinamiche e termodinamiche, in due applicazioni a perturbazioni meteorologiche verificatesi sul Lazio, sono descritti nella seconda parte della tesi. In tale parte è infine presentato un confronto della nuova metodologia sviluppata con le prestazioni dell’algoritmo NESDIS (NOAA).
In this thesis we have investigated some important issues regarding the retrieval of precipitation from satellite-based microwave measurements. Although microwave radiometry retrieval techniques for the estimation of rainfall have advanced considerably over the past years, further developments are still necessary and some aspects of these techniques are currently being investigated in research activities. The activity we have carried out in this thesis concerned first the implementation and the development of the complete BAMPR (Bayesian Algorithm for Microwave-based Precipitation Retrieval) algorithm, based on the Bayesian estimation theory, for the SSM/I, SSMIS and AMSR-E data (brightness temperatures) processing. The complete algorithm is described in the first part of the thesis, together with the screening procedures we have selected for the correct processing of pixels. The characteristics of the database used (Cloud Radiation Database), and some tests we have performed on it are also presented. The activity was then focused on the introduction of the “dynamical tags” in the retrieval procedure of BAMPR, to be combined with brightness temperatures (Cloud Dynamics and Radiation Database (CDRD) approach). This development we have carried out on the algorithm is aimed at reducing the “ambiguity” or the “non-uniqueness” of the database that is a severe limit for retrieval methodology. The results obtained with the “new” BAMPR algorithm, using three “dynamical tags”, in two case studies over Lazio, are described in the second part of the thesis. A comparison between the “new” BAMPR algorithm and the operational algorithm NESDIS of NOAA is also presented.

The light scattering problem and its application in atmospheric science is studied in this thesis. In the first part of this thesis, light scattering theory of single irregular particles is investigated. We first introduce the basic concepts of the light scattering problem. T-matrix ansatz, as well as the null-field technique, are introduced in the following sections. Three geometries, including sphere, cylinder and hexagonal column, are defined subsequently. Corresponding light scattering properties (i.e., T-matrix and Mueller Matrix) of those models with arbitrary sizes are simulated via the T-matrix method. In order to improve the efficiency for the algorithms of single-light scattering, we present a user-friendly database software package of the single-scattering properties of individual dust-like aerosol particles. The second part of this thesis describes this database in detail. Its application to radiative transfer calculations in a spectral region from ultraviolet (UV) to far-infrared (far-IR) is introduced as well. To expand the degree of morphological freedom of the commonly used spheroidal and spherical models, triaxial ellipsoids were assumed to be the overall shape of dust-like aerosol particles. The software package allows for the derivation of the bulk optical properties for a given distribution of particle microphysical parameters (i.e., refractive index, size parameter and two aspect ratios). The array-oriented single-scattering property data sets are stored in the NetCDF format. The third part of this thesis examines the applicability of the tri-axial ellipsoidal dust model. In this part, the newly built database is equipped in the study. The precomputed optical properties of tri-axial models are imported to a polarized addingdoubling radiative transfer (RT) model. The radiative transfer property of a well-defined atmosphere layer is consequently simulated. Furthermore, several trial retrieval procedures are taken based on a combination of intensity and polarization in the results of RT simulation. The retrieval results show a high precision and indicate a further application in realistic studies.

Observations of Antarctic sea ice thickness are sporadic in space and time, hindering knowledge of its variability. A proxy based on stage of development data from the National Ice Center (NIC) weekly operational charts is used to create a high-resolution time series of sea ice concentration, thickness and volume for 2000-2009. Record-length mean thickness and volume of Antarctic sea ice are 66.7 cm and 7.7 x10^3 km^3. The mean growth and decay seasons in the Southern Ocean and in the Ross sector are 210 days and 155 days, but at least at least one week shorter (growth) and longer (decay) in the Amundsen/Bellingshausen sector. Over 90% of the Antarctic continental shelf is covered with sea ice for 3-5 months, and for 2 to 4 months longer periods in the Amundsen/Bellingshausen and Ross sectors. Yearly mean sea ice area (extent) in the Southern Ocean increased at a rate of 0.71 x 10^6 km^2/decade (0.70 x 10^6 km^2/decade), equivalent to a 7.7 %/decade (6.3 %/decade) rise. A comparable trend of 9.1 %/decade (8.5 %/decade) is estimated in the Ross sector, at 0.21 x 10^6 km2/decade (0.23 x 10^6 km2/decade). The opposite trend is found in the Amundsen/Bellingshausen sector: a -0.15 x 10^6 km^2/decade (-0.17 x 10^6 km^2/decade) decline, or -14.6 %/decade (-13.4 %/decade). The estimated annual increase of Antarctic sea ice thickness is 22.6 cm/decade (49.2 %/decade) and of volume is 3.78 x 10^3 km^3/decade (68.3 %/decade). The Ross sector showed similar trends for thickness, at 23.8 cm/decade (47.0 %/decade), and volume, at 1.11 x 10^3 km^3/decade (75.8 %/decade). Thickness has increased in the Amundsen/Bellingshausen sector, 20.7 cm/decade (44.8 %/decade), but with a less pronounced volume rise of 0.17 x10^3 km^3/decade (26.0 %/decade). Monthly sea ice thickness anomalies show a weak response to the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) index. A strong positive response is observed in 2008 when a negative a negative ENSO index compounded to a positive Southern Annular Mode (SAM) index. Therefore the estimated increase of sea ice thickness in the Southern Ocean could be attributed to the prevailing atmospheric conditions with a positive SAM phase over the past decade.

Owner groups and Facility Managers of health care facilities interested in reducing operation and maintenance (O&M) expenses for new facilities have often been placed in the difficult position of making cost-benefit assessments without a complete understanding of the cumulative impact of building systems selection on their internal rate of return. This is particularly true when owners are evaluating the initial cost and operational benefit (if any) of obtaining various levels of "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" (LEED) certifications for their buildings. Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning, and Lighting (HVAC&L) loads comprise 51% of the total energy demand in the typical outpatient facility; however, in order to estimate the likelihood of achieving a particular LEED rating for a new building, a "Whole Building Energy Simulation" is necessary to evaluate HVAC&L system performance. The conventional of requiring a design upon which to base an analysis presents owner operators attempting to perform a Lifecycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) early in the concept phase with two unique problems - how to estimate energy use without an actual "design" to model, and how to estimate a system's first cost without knowing its performance requirements. This study outlines a process by which existing energy metrics from the Department of Energy (DOE), Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), and Energy Star, can be made early during the developer's pro forma phase - without the need for a building design. Furthermore, preliminary business decisions targeted at determining the likelihood of obtaining a particular LEED rating, and specifying the corresponding building systems, can be estimated without the cost required to employ an Architect and Engineer (A&E) team, or the time necessary to develop a design. This paper concludes that regional factors can dramatically affect a building's required level of energy performance, and that the highest performing HVAC&L system, irrespective of cost, will not always provide the best return on investment. Accordingly, the national averages utilized to establish LEED EA1 thresholds do not reflect the cost particularities owners may encounter when developing in various climate zones, and therefor may be less relevant to lifecycle considerations that previously believed.

Cluster computer systems assembled from commodity off-the-shelf components have emerged as a viable and cost-effective alternative to high-end custom parallel computer systems.In this thesis, we investigate how scalable performance can be achieved for database systems on clusters. In this context we specfically considered database query processing for evaluation of botlenecks and suggest optimization techniques for obtaining scalable application performance. First we systematically demonstrated that in a large cluster with high disk bandwidth, the processing capability and the I/O bus bandwidth are the two major performance bottlenecks in database systems. To identify and assess bottlenecks, we developed a Petri net model of parallel query execution on a cluster. Once identified and assessed,we address the above two performance bottlenecks by offoading certain application related tasks to the processor in the network interface card. Offoading application tasks to the processor in the network interface cards shifts the bottleneck from cluster processor to I/O bus. Further, we propose a hardware scheme,network attached disk ,and a software scheme to achieve a balanced utilization of re-sources like host processor, I/O bus, and processor in the network interface card. The proposed schemes result in a speedup of upto 1.47 compared to the base scheme, and ensures scalable performance upto 64 processors. Encouraged by the benefits of offloading application tasks to network processors, we explore the possibilities of performing the bloom filter operations in network processors. We combine offloading bloom filter operations with the proposed hardware schemes to achieve upto 50% reduction in execution time. The later part of the thesis provides introductory experiments conducted in Community At-mospheric Model(CAM), a large scale parallel application used for global weather and climate prediction. CAM is a communication intensive application that involves collective communication of large messages. In our limited experiment, we identified CAM to see the effect of compression techniques and offloading techniques (as formulated for database) on the performance of communication intensive applications. Due to time constraint, we considered only the possibility of compression technique for improving the application performance. However, offloading technique could be taken as a full-fledged research problem for further investigation In our experiment, we found compression of messages reduces the message latencies, and hence improves the execution time and scalability of the application. Without using compression techniques, performance measured on 64 processor cluster resulted in a speed up of only 15.6. While lossless compression retains the accuracy and correctness of the program, it does not result in high compression. We therefore propose lossy compression technique which can achieve a higher compression, yet retain the accuracy and numerical stability of the application while achieving a scalable performance. This leads to speedup of 31.7 on 64 processors compared to a speedup of 15.6 without message compression. We establish that the accuracy within prescribed limit of variation and numerical stability of CAM is retained under lossy compression.

Cluster computer systems assembled from commodity off-the-shelf components have emerged as a viable and cost-effective alternative to high-end custom parallel computer systems.In this thesis, we investigate how scalable performance can be achieved for database systems on clusters. In this context we specfically considered database query processing for evaluation of botlenecks and suggest optimization techniques for obtaining scalable application performance. First we systematically demonstrated that in a large cluster with high disk bandwidth, the processing capability and the I/O bus bandwidth are the two major performance bottlenecks in database systems. To identify and assess bottlenecks, we developed a Petri net model of parallel query execution on a cluster. Once identified and assessed,we address the above two performance bottlenecks by offoading certain application related tasks to the processor in the network interface card. Offoading application tasks to the processor in the network interface cards shifts the bottleneck from cluster processor to I/O bus. Further, we propose a hardware scheme,network attached disk ,and a software scheme to achieve a balanced utilization of re-sources like host processor, I/O bus, and processor in the network interface card. The proposed schemes result in a speedup of upto 1.47 compared to the base scheme, and ensures scalable performance upto 64 processors. Encouraged by the benefits of offloading application tasks to network processors, we explore the possibilities of performing the bloom filter operations in network processors. We combine offloading bloom filter operations with the proposed hardware schemes to achieve upto 50% reduction in execution time. The later part of the thesis provides introductory experiments conducted in Community At-mospheric Model(CAM), a large scale parallel application used for global weather and climate prediction. CAM is a communication intensive application that involves collective communication of large messages. In our limited experiment, we identified CAM to see the effect of compression techniques and offloading techniques (as formulated for database) on the performance of communication intensive applications. Due to time constraint, we considered only the possibility of compression technique for improving the application performance. However, offloading technique could be taken as a full-fledged research problem for further investigation In our experiment, we found compression of messages reduces the message latencies, and hence improves the execution time and scalability of the application. Without using compression techniques, performance measured on 64 processor cluster resulted in a speed up of only 15.6. While lossless compression retains the accuracy and correctness of the program, it does not result in high compression. We therefore propose lossy compression technique which can achieve a higher compression, yet retain the accuracy and numerical stability of the application while achieving a scalable performance. This leads to speedup of 31.7 on 64 processors compared to a speedup of 15.6 without message compression. We establish that the accuracy within prescribed limit of variation and numerical stability of CAM is retained under lossy compression.