University of Hawaii at Manoa

About: University of Hawaii at Manoa is a education organization based out in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Sea surface temperature. The organization has 13693 authors who have published 25161 publications receiving 1023924 citations.

Discovery of Two T Dwarf Companions with the Spitzer Space Telescope

Abstract: We report the discovery of T dwarf companions to the nearby stars HN Peg (G0 V, 18.4 pc, τ ~ 0.3 Gyr) and HD 3651 (K0 V, 11.1 pc, τ ~ 7 Gyr). During an ongoing survey of 5' × 5' fields surrounding stars in the solar neighborhood with the Infrared Array Camera aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope, we identified these companions as candidate T dwarfs based on their mid-infrared colors. Using near-infrared spectra obtained with SpeX at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, we confirm the presence of methane absorption that characterizes T dwarfs and measure spectral types of T2.5 ± 0.5 and T7.5 ± 0.5 for HN Peg B and HD 3651B, respectively. By comparing our Spitzer data to images from the Two Micron All Sky Survey obtained several years earlier, we find that the proper motions of HN Peg B and HD 3651B are consistent with those of the primaries, confirming their companionship. A comparison of their luminosities to the values predicted by theoretical evolutionary models implies masses of 0.021 ± 0.009 and 0.051 ± 0.014 M_⊙ for HN Peg B and HD 3651B, respectively. In addition, the models imply an effective temperature for HN Peg B that is significantly lower than the values derived for other T dwarfs at similar spectral types, which is the same behavior reported by Metchev & Hillenbrand for the young late L dwarf HD 203030B. Thus, the temperature of the L/T transition appears to depend on surface gravity. Meanwhile, HD 3651B is the first substellar companion directly imaged around a star that is known to harbor a close-in planet from radial velocity surveys. The discovery of this companion supports the notion that the high eccentricities of close-in planets like that near HD 3651 may be the result of perturbations by low-mass companions at wide separations.

Flying foxes cease to function as seed dispersers long before they become rare

Abstract: Rare species play limited ecological roles, but particular behavioral traits may predispose species to become functionally extinct before becoming rare. Flying foxes (Pteropodid fruit bats) are important dispersers of large seeds, but their effectiveness is hypothesized to depend on high population density that induces aggressive interactions. In a Pacific archipelago, we quantified the proportion of seeds that flying foxes dispersed beyond the fruiting canopy, across a range of sites that differed in flying fox abundance. We found the relationship between ecological function (seed dispersal) and flying fox abundance was nonlinear and consistent with the hypothesis. For most trees in sites below a threshold abundance of flying foxes, flying foxes dispersed <1% of the seeds they handled. Above the threshold, dispersal away from trees increased to 58% as animal abundance approximately doubled. Hence, flying foxes may cease to be effective seed dispersers long before becoming rare. As many species' populations decline worldwide, identifying those with threshold relationships is an important precursor to preservation of ecologically effective densities.

Western Boundary Currents and Frontal Air–Sea Interaction: Gulf Stream and Kuroshio Extension

Abstract: In the Northern Hemisphere midlatitude western boundary current (WBC) systems there is a complex interaction between dynamics and thermodynamics and between atmosphere and ocean. Their potential contribution to the climate system motivated major parallel field programs in both the North Pacific [Kuroshio Extension System Study (KESS)] and the North Atlantic [Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) Mode Water Dynamics Experiment (CLIMODE)], and preliminary observations and analyses from these programs highlight that complexity. The Gulf Stream (GS) in the North Atlantic and the Kuroshio Extension (KE) in the North Pacific have broad similarities, as subtropical gyre WBCs, but they also have significant differences, which affect the regional air–sea exchange processes and their larger-scale interactions. The 15-yr satellite altimeter data record, which provides a rich source of information, is combined here with the longer historical record from in situ data to describe and compare the curr...

Do All Carbonized Charcoals Have the Same Chemical Structure? 2. A Model of the Chemical Structure of Carbonized Charcoal†

Abstract: Charcoals and carbonized charcoals (i.e., biocarbons) were prepared from a wide variety of biomass substrates, including pure sugars containing five- and six-membered rings with furanose and pyranose configurations, lignin, agricultural residues (corncob and nut shells), and a hard wood. These biocarbons were subject to proximate and elemental analysis, gas sorption analysis, and analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron spin resonance (ESR), 13C cross-polarization magic-angle spinning (CPMAS) NMR, and matrix-assisted, laser desorption ionization coupled with time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF MS). All the carbonized charcoals contained oxygen heteroatoms, had high surface areas, and were excellent conductors of electricity. Doping the biocarbon with boron or phosphorus resulted in a slight improvement in its electrical conductivity. The XRD analysis indicated that the carbonized charcoals possess an ar...

A coupled-stability index for ENSO

Abstract: (1) Based on the simple framework of the recharge oscillator for El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), this paper describes the formulation of a coupled stability index for the large-scale tropical ocean-atmosphere interactions in the equatorial Pacific region. This index, referred to as the Bjerknes (BJ) stability index, takes its negative contributions from the mean upwelling and thermal damping and its positive contributions from the thermocline, the zonal advection, and the Ekman feedbacks. The validity of the BJ stability index formula is tested through a detailed eigen- analysis of an intermediate-coupled model, which shows that the BJ stability index captures the dependence of growth rate of the leading coupled ENSO-like mode on various climate conditions. The general formula of the BJ stability index may be useful for assessing the coupled stability of ENSO and its sensitivity to changes in tropical climate conditions. Citation: Jin, F.-F., S. T. Kim, and L. Bejarano (2006), A coupled-stability index for ENSO, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L23708, doi:10.1029/2006GL027221.