Structure and Inter-Annual Variability of the Freshened Surface Layer in the Laptev and East-Siberian Seas During Ice-Free Periods

This work is focused on the structure and inter-annual variability of the freshened surface layer (FSL) in the Laptev and East-Siberian seas during ice-free periods. This layer is formed mainly by deltaic rivers among which the Lena River contributes about two thirds of the inflowing freshwater volume. Based on in situ measurements, we show that the area of this FSL during certain years is much greater than the area of FSL in the neighboring Kara Sea, while the total annual freshwater discharge to the Laptev and East-Siberian seas is 1.5 times less than to the Kara Sea (mainly from the estuaries of the Ob and Yenisei rivers). This feature is caused by differences in morphology of the estuaries and deltas. Shallow and narrow channels of the Lena Delta are limitedly affected by sea water. As a result, undiluted Lena discharge inflows to sea from multiple channels and forms relatively shallow plume, as compared to the Ob-Yenisei plume, which mixes with subjacent saline sea water in deep and wide estuaries. Due to small vertical extents of FSL in the Laptev and East-Siberian seas, wind conditions strongly affect its spreading and determine its significant inter-annual variability, as compared to relatively stable FSL in the Kara Sea. During years with prevailing western and northern winds, FSL is localized in the southern parts of the Laptev and East-Siberian seas due to southward Ekman transport, meridional extent (<250 km) and area (∼250,000 km2) of FSL are relatively small. During years with strong eastern winds FSL spreads northward over large area (up to 500,000 km2), its meridional extent increases up to 500–700 km. At the same time, area and position of FSL do not show any dependence on significant variability of the annual river discharge volume and ice coverage during warm season.

The In-orbit Performance of SEVIRI From Observations of Mercury and Venus

<p>We investigated various aspects of the in-orbit performance of SEVIRI on Meteosat-10 (launch: 05 Jul 2012) and -11 (launch: 15 Jul 2015) with images, where Mercury or Venus appeared in a corner. These objects are of similar or smaller size than the instantaneous field of view, and therefore they are well suited for checks of geometric requirements. From comparing the position of Venus in different channels we conclude that the North-South distance between the two focal planes is shorter than the nominal value by 0.66 km at SSP (Sub-Satellite Point) with Meteosat-10 and longer by 1.44 km at SSP with Meteosat-11. The tilt of the detector array against the equator is less than 0.0037° for SEVIRI on Metosat-10. The sampling with narrow channels is 3.0016 km, with a one-sigma uncertainty of 30 cm at sub-satellite point. The tests we carried out to check the geometric performance of the instrument confirmed that SEVIRI is compliant with the requirements. The Point Spread Function as determined from the image of a planet agrees well with the expectations based on its combination with the finite impulse response. Finally we determined the stability of the calibration coefficients from the counts obtained on the planetary targets and found the reproducibility of the measurements of planetary fluxes similar to those of vicarious calibration targets. Hence planets are a promising alternative to established methods of in-flight characterisation and validation of imagers.</p>

The In-orbit Performance of SEVIRI From Observations of Mercury and Venus

<p>We investigated various aspects of the in-orbit performance of SEVIRI on Meteosat-10 (launch: 05 Jul 2012) and -11 (launch: 15 Jul 2015) with images, where Mercury or Venus appeared in a corner. These objects are of similar or smaller size than the instantaneous field of view, and therefore they are well suited for checks of geometric requirements. From comparing the position of Venus in different channels we conclude that the North-South distance between the two focal planes is shorter than the nominal value by 0.66 km at SSP (Sub-Satellite Point) with Meteosat-10 and longer by 1.44 km at SSP with Meteosat-11. The tilt of the detector array against the equator is less than 0.0037° for SEVIRI on Metosat-10. The sampling with narrow channels is 3.0016 km, with a one-sigma uncertainty of 30 cm at sub-satellite point. The tests we carried out to check the geometric performance of the instrument confirmed that SEVIRI is compliant with the requirements. The Point Spread Function as determined from the image of a planet agrees well with the expectations based on its combination with the finite impulse response. Finally we determined the stability of the calibration coefficients from the counts obtained on the planetary targets and found the reproducibility of the measurements of planetary fluxes similar to those of vicarious calibration targets. Hence planets are a promising alternative to established methods of in-flight characterisation and validation of imagers.</p>

The energetic barrier to single-file water flow through narrow channels

Various nanoscopic channels of roughly equal diameter and length facilitate single-file diffusion at vastly different rates. The underlying variance of the energetic barriers to transport is poorly understood. First, water partitioning into channels so narrow that individual molecules cannot overtake each other incurs an energetic penalty. Corresponding estimates vary widely depending on how the sacrifice of two out of four hydrogen bonds is accounted for. Second, entropy differences between luminal and bulk water may arise: additional degrees of freedom caused by dangling OH-bonds increase entropy. At the same time, long-range dipolar water interactions decrease entropy. Here, we dissect different contributions to Gibbs free energy of activation, ΔG‡, for single-file water transport through narrow channels by analyzing experimental results from water permeability measurements on both bare lipid bilayers and biological water channels that (i) consider unstirred layer effects and (ii) adequately count the channels in reconstitution experiments. First, the functional relationship between water permeabilities and Arrhenius activation energies indicates negligible differences between the entropies of intraluminal water and bulk water. Second, we calculate ΔG‡ from unitary water channel permeabilities using transition state theory. Plotting ΔG‡ as a function of the number of H-bond donating or accepting pore-lining residues results in a 0.1 kcal/mol contribution per residue. The resulting upper limit for partial water dehydration amounts to 2 kcal/mol. In the framework of biomimicry, our analysis provides valuable insights for the design of synthetic water channels. It thus may aid in the urgent endeavor towards combating global water scarcity.

Antimonene-gold Based Twin-Core SPR Sensor with Side Polished Semi-Arc Groove Dual Sensing Channel: An Investigation with 2D Material

We propose surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based single-side polished photonic crystal fiber (SSP-PCF) sensor for low as well as high refractive index (RI) sensing. To achieve this, an active metal gold (Au) is deposited on the PCF's flat narrow channels to form a dual-sensing channel. Following that, a thin nanolayer antimonene is deposited on Au, as its buckled honeycomb lattice structure aids in the trapping of numerous biomolecules. For the sensing range of 1.27 to 1.39, numerical results show that the wavelength sensitivity (WS) and amplitude sensitivity (AS) mounted on 77000 nmRIU-1 and 1320.41 RIU-1, respectively, with wavelength resolution (RW), and amplitude resolution (RA), as high as 1.298\(\times\)10-6 RIU, and 8.6\(\times\)10-7 RIU. The promising results obtained from the proposed SSP-PCF sensor offers improved refractive index sensing with a fine figure of merit (FOM), i.e., 311.74 RIU-1 for the sensing range of 1.27 to 1.39, which covers most known analytes such as proteins, cancer cells, glucose, viruses, DNA/RNA, medicinal drugs, halogenated organic acids. Further, the proposed sensor's design requires a simple fabrication procedure.

Digital Slot: A Tool for Optimization and Development of New Hydraulic Fracturing Technologies

We present the digital slot — a tool for the development of new hydraulic fracturing technologies via digitization of slurry flow in narrow channels. We consider slurry containing fluid, proppant, and fiber components. The flow is described by a continuum mathematical model based on the lubrication theory. The numerical algorithm utilizes Lagrangian approach with finite volume pressure solver. We present the results of laboratory validation and simulation examples showing the key effects affecting solids transport in hydraulic fracturing: settling, bridging, gravity slumping, materials degradation, viscosity contrast, and bank formation.