Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

About: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is a facility organization based out in Tokyo, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Galaxy & Telescope. The organization has 4327 authors who have published 12054 publications receiving 208330 citations.

Ice Cloud Properties From Himawari-8/AHI Next-Generation Geostationary Satellite: Capability of the AHI to Monitor the DC Cloud Generation Process

Abstract: The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) successfully launched the Himawari-8 (H-8) new-generation geostationary meteorological satellite with the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) sensor on October 7, 2014. The H-8/AHI level-2 (L2) operational cloud property products were released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency during September 2016. The Voronoi light scattering model, which is a fractal ice particle habit, was utilized to develop the retrieval algorithm called “Comprehensive Analysis Program for Cloud Optical Measurement” (CAPCOM-INV)-ice for the AHI ice cloud product. In this paper, we describe the CAPCOM-INV-ice algorithm for ice cloud products from AHI data. To investigate its retrieval performance, retrieval results were compared with 2000 samples of the ice cloud optical thickness and effective particle radius values. Furthermore, AHI ice cloud products are evaluated by comparing them with the MODIS collection-6 (C6) products. As an experiment, cloud property retrievals from AHI measurements, with an observation interval time of 2.5 min and ground-based rainfall observation radar data (the latter of which is supplied by the JMA, with a 1-km grid mesh), are used to investigate the generation processes of deep convective (DC) cloud in the vicinity of the Kyushu island, Japan. It revealed that AHI measurements have the capability of monitoring the growth processes, including variation of the cloud properties and the precipitation in the DC cloud.

Fuel/air premixer for gas turbine combustor

Abstract: A fuel/air premixer for use in a gas turbine improves the atomization performance and mixing performance of the fuel by guiding an air so as to flow in an outward radial direction. A flow-deflecting tubular body having an annular cross section is disposed on the inside of and coaxially with a liquid film-forming body of an airbiast atomizer nozzle disposed at the inlet portion of a premixing tube. The outer peripheral surface of the flow-deflecting tubular body has a wall surface which increases in outer diameter toward the tip end of a first annular passage. The inner peripheral surface of the flow-deflecting tubular body has a form in which the inner diameter has a minimum to form a contracted portion, and then increases dramatically toward the tip end.

Crustal thickness of the Moon: Implications for farside basin structures

Abstract: [1] Based on the latest SELENE lunar gravity and topography model obtained by Kaguya mission, we compute the lunar crustal thickness map to investigate differences between farside basin structures. The thickest crust is located in the southern rim of the Dirichlet-Jackson basin and the thinnest crust at the Moscoviense basin. The thickest crust corresponds to the highest topography and is consistent with Airy isostasy. The thinnest crust is due to an abnormally large mantle plug. The crustal thicknesses at Apollo 12/14 sites of our crustal thickness model are 45.1 and 49.9 km. The crustal thickness map indicates that the differences between recently proposed type I and type II basins are probably controlled by the ratio between pre-impact crustal thickness and impact scale.

Electron-Ion Temperature Equilibration in Collisionless Shocks: The Supernova Remnant-Solar Wind Connection

Abstract: Collisionless shocks are loosely defined as shocks where the transition between pre-and post-shock states happens on a length scale much shorter than the collisional mean free path. In the absence of collision to enforce thermal equilibrium post-shock, electrons and ions need not have the same temperatures. While the acceleration of electrons for injection into shock acceleration processes to produce cosmic rays has received considerable attention, the related problem of the shock heating of quasi-thermal electrons has been relatively neglected.