Snow Depth Retrieval on Arctic Sea Ice Using Under-Ice Hyperspectral Radiation Measurements

Radiation transmitted through sea ice and snow has an important impact on the energy partitioning at the atmosphere-ice-ocean interface. Snow depth and ice thickness are crucial in determining its temporal and spatial variations. Under-ice surveys using autonomous robotic vehicles to measure transmitted radiation often lack coincident snow depth and ice thickness measurements so that direct relationships cannot be investigated. Snow and ice imprint distinct features on the spectral shape of transmitted radiation. Here, we use those features to retrieve snow depth. Transmitted radiance was measured underneath landfast level first-year ice using a remotely operated vehicle in the Lincoln Sea in spring 2018. Colocated measurements of snow depth and ice thickness were acquired. Constant ice thickness, clear water conditions, and low in-ice biomass allowed us to separate the spectral features of snow. We successfully retrieved snow depth using two inverse methods based on under-ice optical spectra with 1) normalized difference indices and 2) an idealized two-layer radiative transfer model including spectral snow and sea ice extinction coefficients. The retrieved extinction coefficients were in agreement with previous studies. We then applied the methods to continuous time series of transmittance and snow depth from the landfast first-year ice and from drifting, melt-pond covered multiyear ice in the Central Arctic in autumn 2018. Both methods allow snow depth retrieval accuracies of approximately 5 cm. Our results show that atmospheric variations and absolute light levels have an influence on the snow depth retrieval.

Solar Radiation Flux Provides a Method of Quantifying Weed-Crop Balance in Present and Future Climates

A systematic approach to quantifying the weed–crop balance through the flux of solar radiation was developed and tested on commercial fields in a long-established Atlantic zone cropland. Measuring and modelling solar energy flux in crop stands has become standard practice in analysis and comparison of crop growth and yield across regions, species and years. In a similar manner, the partitioning of incoming radiation between crops and the in-field plant community may provide ‘common currencies’ through which to quantify positive and negative effects of weeds in relation to global change. Here, possibilities were explored for converting simple ground-cover measures in commercial fields of winter and spring oilseed rape in eastern Scotland, UK to metrics of solar flux. Solar radiation intercepted by the crops ranged with season and sowing delay from 129 to 1975 MJ m−2 (15-fold). Radiation transmitted through the crop, together with local weed management, resulted in a 70-fold range of weed intercepted radiation (14.2 to 963 MJ m−2), which in turn explained 93% of the corresponding between-site variation in weed dry mass (6.36 to 459 g m−2). Transmitted radiation explained almost 90% of the variation in number of weed species per field (12 to 40). The conversion of intercepted radiation to weed dry matter was far less variable at a mean of 0.74 g MJ−1 at both winter and spring sites. The primary cause of variation was an interaction between the temperature at sowing and the annual wave of incoming solar radiation. The high degree of explanatory power in solar flux indicates its potential use as an initial predictor and subsequent monitoring tool in the face of future change in climate and cropping intensity.

Radiative penetration dominates the thermal regime and energetics of a shallow ice-covered lake in an arid climate

The Central Asia is characterized by cold and arid winter with very little precipitation (snow), strong solar insolation, and dry air. But little is known about the thermal regimes of ice and ice-covered lakes and their response to the distinct meteorology and climate in this region. In a typical large shallow lake, ice/snow processes and under-ice thermodynamics were observed for four winters between 2015 and 2019. Heat budgets at the ice-water interface and within the water column were investigated. Results reveal that persistent bare ice permits 20 %–35 % of incident solar radiation to transmit into the under-ice water, providing background source for under-ice energy flows and causing/maintaining high water temperature (up to 6–8 °C) and high water-to-ice heat flux (annually mean 20–45 W m−2) in mid-winter. Heat balancing indicates that the transmitted radiation and water-to-ice heat flux are the dominators and highly correlated. Both bulk water temperature and its structure respond sensibly to solar transmittance and occasional snow events. Complicated evolution of thermal structure was observed and under-ice convective mixing does not necessarily occur because of the joint governance of strong irradiance, sediment heating and salinity profile. Especially, salt exclusion of freezing changes both the bulk salinity and its structure, which plays a more important role in stability/mixing of the water column in the shallow lake.

Improved Imaging Model in the Presence of Multiplicative Spatially Extended Cloaking Interference

The paper proposes an improved imaging model in the presence of multiplicative spatially extended cloaking interference. The model take into account the effect of multiplicative masking interference. To simplify the calculations of the image brightness in the distorted region the diagram technique is used. Unlike the known ones, the model takes into account the concentration of the distorting medium in a narrow squat layer, the primary reflection of solar radiation from the upper boundary of the distorting layer and subsequent multiple re-reflections of the transmitted radiation of the visible wavelength range from the earth’s surface and the upper boundary of the distorting medium layer. A technique for finding and taking into account the reflection and re-reflection coefficients of radiation to restore distorted images is proposed. The results of experimental studies are presented. For the experiment, the image of the territory of Iraq during the 2003 "Freedom for Iraq" hostilities was selected. Keywords— image, model, multiplicative, extended cloaking interference, spacecraft, reflection, coefficient

Slow light nanocoatings for ultrashort pulse compression

Transparent materials do not absorb light but have profound influence on the phase evolution of transmitted radiation. One consequence is chromatic dispersion, i.e., light of different frequencies travels at different velocities, causing ultrashort laser pulses to elongate in time while propagating. Here we experimentally demonstrate ultrathin nanostructured coatings that resolve this challenge: we tailor the dispersion of silicon nanopillar arrays such that they temporally reshape pulses upon transmission using slow light effects and act as ultrashort laser pulse compressors. The coatings induce anomalous group delay dispersion in the visible to near-infrared spectral region around 800 nm wavelength over an 80 nm bandwidth. We characterize the arrays’ performance in the spectral domain via white light interferometry and directly demonstrate the temporal compression of femtosecond laser pulses. Applying these coatings to conventional optics renders them ultrashort pulse compatible and suitable for a wide range of applications.

Features of the Propagation of Microwave Radiation in a Freshwater Ice Cover

When scanning fresh ice cover in the microwave range at a frequency of 13 GHz, the transmitted radiation power was investigated at four linear polarizations (vertical, horizontal, and polarizations rotated at an angle of +-45) for a long period of time. The measurements were carried out on the ice cover of the lake. Arakhley (Transbaikal region) at a distance of 120 m from the coast in March 2021. We also measured the external parameters of the studied environment, namely, the temperature of the ice cover, meteorological parameters (wind speed, air temperature, pressure). The distance between the generator and the receiver of electromagnetic radiation was 40 meters. The orientation of the instruments is West-East. As a result, variations in the power of the transmitted microwave radiation were detected. These variations are related to the temperature deformations of the ice cover, which were recorded using a deformation sensor installed in the ice cover. Also revealed a feature that was observed earlier in the spring. This is a different temporal behavior of the first Stokes parameter, which is determined by the sum of the powers of two orthogonal polarizations, namely, the sum of the received signals at the vertical and horizontal polarizations, and the sum of the received signals of the two polarizations rotated at an angle of +45 and -45. This difference is also associated with temperature deformations of the fresh ice cover in the spring. Keywords: microwave range, fresh ice cover, Stokes parameters, temperature deformation

Visual Determination of Transformer Oil Quality Parameters

During operation of the transformer, the oil in it undergoes profound changes usually referred to as aging. The electrical insulating properties of it deteriorate, and sediments accumulate on the active part, which makes it difficult to remove heat. Inhomogeneous solid formations can induce not only the voltage breakdown, but also impair the parameters such as viscosity and other char-acteristics of the oil, which are important for the reliable operation of the power transformers. Aromatic groups initially is present in the transformer oil composition during the operation of the oil, and because of the aging processes, the concentration of the unsaturated cyclic com-pounds increases. The aim of this work is to develop a new method for the determination of the aromatic compounds and colloidal particles. This goal is achieved using a visual inspection of the transformer oil samples in the visible range. The most significant result of the paper is the establishment of a correlation between the acid number of the transformer oil (KOH), the tan-gent of the dielectric loss angle and the type of oil image under the visible light illumination. The significance of the obtained results lies in the fact that the presented method based on the analy-sis of the scattered and transmitted radiation, makes it possible to determine the presence of the aromatic compounds and colloidal particles in the transformer oil, as well as to define their con-centration and size. This method simplifies the analysis of the transformer oil quality, and re-duces the cost of the research, which is an important factor for the electric power industry.

Redefining the Directional-Hemispherical Reflectance and Transmittance of Needle-Shaped Leaves to Address Issues in Their Existing Measurement Methods

The directional-hemispherical reflectance and transmittance of needle-shaped leaves are redefined in this study. We suggest that the reflected and transmitted radiation of a leaf should be distinguished by the illuminated and shaded leaf surfaces rather than the usual separation of the two hemispheres by a plane perpendicular to the incoming radiation. Through theoretical analysis, we found that needle directional-hemispherical reflectance and transmittance measured by two existing techniques, namely Daughtry's method and Harron's method, could be significantly biased. This finding was proved by ray-tracing simulations intuitively as well as by inversions of the PROSPECT model indirectly. We propose the following requirements for needle spectral measurement in an integrating sphere: needles should be fully exposed to the light source, the interfusion of reflected and transmitted radiation on convex needle surfaces should be avoided, and multiple scattering of radiation among needles should be minimized.

REDUCTION OF THE CONTROL VOLTAGE IN THE AMPLITUDE ELECTROOPTIC MODULATOR AT MULTIPLE-INTERFERENCE IN A RING RESONATOR

In this paper, it’s described a method that allows to implement highly efficient amplitude modulation of radiation at the output of a ring resonator by controlling its artificial light losses, which are derived from it using two Y-shaped couplers. At the same time, the necessary constant level of light energy is provided in the resonator, which, due to the absence of radiation losses when entering it into the ring resonator, allows one to achieve a significantly lower value of the required control electric voltage than existing electro-optical modulators, and, therefore, a smaller amount of consumed electric power and an increase in working frequency range of modulation of optical radiation. The possibility of implementing the method under consideration is ensured by the fact that the input of light energy into the ring resonator can be carried out without loss, in addition, single-mode waveguides are able to maintain the temporal coherence of transmitted radiation, which ensures the implementation of multipath interference. The stabilization of the optical characteristics of a ring resonator, which is very sensitive to changes in various external factors, for example, temperature, pressure, vibrations, can be achieved by electro-optical correction of the length of the optical path of the resonator by introducing a controlled phase element operating on the transverse electro-optical effect into the ring resonator and implementing corresponding optoelectronic feedback circuit.