Jet Propulsion Laboratory

About: Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a facility organization based out in La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Mars Exploration Program & Telescope. The organization has 8801 authors who have published 14333 publications receiving 548163 citations. The organization is also known as: JPL & NASA JPL.

Modeling the radiative properties of nonspherical soil-derived mineral aerosols

Abstract: Mineral dust aerosols have complex nonspherical shapes and varying composition. This study utilizes data on morphology (size and shape) and composition of dust particles to determine the extent to which the optical properties of real particles differ from those of spheres. A method for modeling the optical properties of complex particle mixtures is proposed. The method combines dust particle composition–shape–size (CSS) distributions reconstructed from the electron microscopy data, effective medium approximations and discrete dipole approximation. The method is used to compute optical characteristics of realistic dust mixtures representative of Saharan and Asian dust. We demonstrate that considered CSS distributions result in various differences in the extinction coefficient, single scattering albedo, asymmetry parameter and the scattering phase function relative to the volume-equivalent spheres and the mixtures of the randomly oriented oblate and prolate spheroids. Implications of these differences for radiation/climate modeling and remote sensing are discussed.

Structure and density of cometary nuclei

Abstract: Understanding the nature of the cometary nucleus remains one of the major problems in solar system science. Whipples (1950) icy conglomerate model has been very successful at explaining a range of cometary phenomena, including the source of cometary activity and the nongravitational orbital motion of the nuclei. However, the internal structure of the nuclei is still largely unknown. We review herein the evidence for cometary nuclei as fluffy aggregates or primordial rubble piles, as first proposed by Donn et al. (1985) and Weissman (1986). These models assume that cometary nuclei are weakly bonded aggregations of smaller, icy- onglomerate planetesimals, possibly held together only by self-gravity. Evidence for this model comes from studies of the accretion and subsequent evolution of material in the solar nebula, from observations of disrupted comets, and in particular comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, from measurements of the ensemble rotational properties of observed cometary nuclei, and from recent spacecraft missions to comets. Although the evidence for rubble pile nuclei is growing, the eventual answer to this question will likely not come until we can place a spacecraft in orbit around a cometary nucleus and study it in detail over many months to years. ESAs Rosetta mission, now en route to comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko, will provide that opportunity.

Ability of multiangle remote sensing observations to identify and distinguish mineral dust types: Optical models and retrievals of optically thick plumes

Abstract: [1] We present a systematic theoretical study of atmospheric mineral dust radiative properties, focusing on implications for multiangle and multispectral remote sensing. We model optical properties of complex, nonspherical mineral dust mixtures in three visible-near-infrared satellite channels: 0.550, 0.672, and 0.866 μm, accounting for recent field and laboratory data on mineral dust morphology and mineralogy. To model the optical properties of mineral dust, we employ the discrete dipole approximation technique for particles up to 2 μm diameter and the T matrix method for particles up to 12 μm. We investigate the impact of particle irregularity, composition, and size distribution on particle optical properties, and we develop optical models for representative natural mineral dust composition-size-shape types. Sensitivity studies with these models indicate that Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) data should be able to distinguish plate-like from grain-like dust particles, weakly from strongly absorbing compositional types, and monomodal from bimodal size distributions. Models containing grain-like, weakly absorbing, bimodal distributions of dust particles were favored for optically thick Saharan and Asian dust plume examples, whereas strongly absorbing and plate-like particles were rejected. We will present detailed, systematic MISR sensitivity studies and analysis of more complex field cases using the optical models derived here in a future paper.

Tentative Detection of the Cosmic Infrared Background at 2.2 and 3.5 microns Using Ground Based and Space Based Observations

Abstract: The Cosmic InfraRed Background (CIRB) is the sum total of the redshifted and reprocessed short wavelength radiation from the era of galaxy formation, and hence contains vital information about the history of galactic evolution. One of the main problems associated with estimating an isotropic CIRB in the near infrared (1-5 microns) is the unknown contribution from stars within our own galaxy. The optimal observational window to search for a background in the near-IR is at 3.5 microns since that is the wavelength region where the other main foreground, the zodiacal dust emission, is the least. It is not possible to map out the entire 3.5 micron sky at a resolution which will accurately estimate the flux from stars. However, since the CIRB is presumably isotropic, it can potentially be detected by selecting a smaller field and imaging it at good resolution to estimate the stellar intensity. We selected a 2x2 degree "dark spot" near the North Galactic Pole which had the least intensity at 3.5 microns after a zodiacal light model was subtracted from the all-sky maps generated by the Diffuse InfraRed Background Experiment (DIRBE). The measured total intensity of the few bright stars in this field was combined with a model for the contribution from dimmer stars and subtracted from the zodi-subtracted DIRBE map. The contribution from the interstellar medium was also subtracted leaving a residual intensity at 2.2 microns of: 16.4+/-4.4 kJy/sr or 22.4+/-6 nW/m^2/sr, and at 3.5 microns: 12.8+/-3.8 kJy/sr or 11+/-3.3 nW/m^2/sr. [Abridged]

HerMES: Candidate High-redshift Galaxies Discovered with Herschel/SPIRE

Abstract: We present a method for selecting z > 4 dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) using Herschel/Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver 250/350/500 μm flux densities to search for red sources. We apply this method to 21 deg2 of data from the HerMES survey to produce a catalog of 38 high-z candidates. Follow-up of the first five of these sources confirms that this method is efficient at selecting high-z DSFGs, with 4/5 at z = 4.3-6.3 (and the remaining source at z = 3.4), and that they are some of the most luminous dusty sources known. Comparison with previous DSFG samples, mostly selected at longer wavelengths (e.g., 850 μm) and in single-band surveys, shows that our method is much more efficient at selecting high-z DSFGs, in the sense that a much larger fraction are at z > 3. Correcting for the selection completeness and purity, we find that the number of bright (S 500 μm ≥ 30 mJy), red Herschel sources is 3.3 ± 0.8 deg–2. This is much higher than the number predicted by current models, suggesting that the DSFG population extends to higher redshifts than previously believed. If the shape of the luminosity function for high-z DSFGs is similar to that at z ~ 2, rest-frame UV based studies may be missing a significant component of the star formation density at z = 4-6, even after correction for extinction.