Extending the MODIS 1 km ocean colour atmospheric correction to the MODIS 500 m bands and 500 m chlorophyll-a estimation towards coastal and estuarine monitoring

National and regional obligations to control and maintain water quality have led to an increase in coastal and estuarine monitoring. A potentially valuable tool is high temporal and spatial resolution satellite ocean colour data. NASA's MODIS-Terra and -Aqua can capture data at both 250 m and 500 m spatial resolutions and the existence of two sensors provides the possibility for multiple daily passes over a scene. However, no robust atmospheric correction method currently exists for these data, rendering them unusable for quantitative monitoring applications. Therefore, this paper presents an automatic and dynamic atmospheric correction approach allowing the determination of ocean colour. The algorithm is based around the standard MODIS 1 km atmospheric correction, includes cloud masking and is applicable to all of the visible 500 m bands. Comparison of the 500 m ocean colour data with the standard 1 km data shows good agreement and these results are further supported by in situ data comparisons. In addition, a novel method to produce 500 m chlorophyll-a estimates is presented. Comparisons of the 500 m estimates with the standard MODIS OC3M algorithm and to in situ data from a near-coast validation site are given.     

Anisotropy of optical constants of YBCO

Otto configuration attenuated total reflection (ATR) measurements of the excitation of surface plasmons in the infrared have been carried out on YBCO films deposited on MgO (100) substrates. The dielectric constants for YBCO at 3.392m are determined to be –10+15i forc-axis material. The anisotropic nature of the cuprate is seen from films with other orientations: nearlya-axis material has constants of 4.0+7.0i. It is thus not metallic in its optical response along thec-axis which lies parallel to the substrate plane. Ellipsometric measurements in the visible onc-axis material point to a maximum surface plasmon energy of 1 eV.     

Chamber exposures of children to mixed ozone, sulfur dioxide, and sulfuric acid

To help assess acute health effects of summer air pollution in the eastern United States, we simulated ambient "acid summer haze" as closely as was practical in a laboratory chamber. We exposed young volunteers who were thought to be sensitive to this pollutant mixture on the basis of previous epidemiologic evidence. Specifically, we exposed 41 subjects aged 9-12 y to mixed ozone (0.10 ppm), sulfur dioxide (0.10 ppm), and 0.6-microm sulfuric acid aerosol (100 +/- 40 microg/m3, mean +/- standard deviation) for 4 h, during which there was intermittent exercise. Fifteen subjects were healthy, and 26 had allergy or mild asthma. The entire group responded nonsignificantly (p > .05) to pollution exposure (relative to clean air), as determined by spirometry, symptoms, and overall discomfort level during exercise. Subjects with allergy/asthma showed a positive association (p = .01) between symptoms and acid dose; in healthy subjects, that association was negative (p = .08). In these chamber-exposure studies, we noted less of an effect than was reported in previous epidemiologic studies of children exposed to ambient "acid summer haze."     

Effect of MWCNTs on Gastric Emptying in Mice

After making model of gastric functional disorder (FD), part of model mice were injected intravenously (i.v.) with oxide multi-walled carbon nanotubes (oMWCNTs) to investigate effect of carbon nanotubes on gastric emptying. The results showed that NO content in stomach, compared with model group, was decreased significantly and close to normal level post-injection with oMWCNTs (500 and 800 μg/mouse). In contrast to FD or normal groups, the content of acetylcholine (Ach) in stomach was increased obviously in injection group with 500 or 800 μg/mouse of oMWCNTs. The kinetic curve of emptying was fitted to calculate gastric motility factor k; the results showed that the k of injection group was much higher than FD and normal. In other words, the gastric motility of FD mice was enhanced via injection with oMWCNTs. In certain dosage, oMWCNTs could improve gastric emptying and motility.     

The Defect Chemistry of Donor-Doped BaTiO3: A Rebuttal

It has recently been asserted that the donor charge in La⁺³ -doped BaTiO₃ is always compensated by Ti vacancies, and that electrons are never the primary compensating defect. It was also stated that the conductivity observed in reduced, donor-doped BaTiO₃ results from the loss of a very small amount of oxygen not directly related to the donor content. However, the observed reproducible and reversable weight loss on reduction, or gain on oxidation, is exactly that expected for a change between ionic and electronic compensation. It corresponds to the loss or gain of the excess oxygen contained in the donor oxide, e.g. LaO_1.5 vs. the BaO it replaces. The amount of this weight change is proportional to the donor concentration. This is in agreement with the observation that the equilibrium conductivity in the P(O₂)-independent region of electronic compensation is proportional to the donor concentration. Thus the conductivity observed in reduced samples is directly coupled to the donor concentration, and the carrier concentration is equal to the net donor content. In fact, the equilibrium conductivity of donor-doped BaTiO₃ conforms to the behavior expected from classical defect chemistry, and exhibits regions of both ionic and electronic compensation of the donor charge, as expected. Phase studies by TEM have shown that donor-doped BaTiO₃ sintered in air self-adjusts its composition, by splitting out a second phase if necessary, so that the appropriate amount of compensating Ti vacancies are formed. However, when sintered in a reducing atmosphere, the composition self-adjusts to accommodate charge compensation by electrons.     

The fabrication and characterization of inkjet-printed polyaniline nanoparticle films

This paper reports on the fabrication and characterization of electrodes modified with conducting polymer nanoparticle films, produced via inkjet printing. The polyaniline nanoparticle formulations were deposited via a desktop inkjet printer onto screen-printed carbon-paste electrodes (SPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and gold-PET and their morphology studied at a range of length scales using profilometry, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The deposited films were found to form continuous polymer films depending upon film thickness, which was in turn dependent on the number of prints performed. The inkjet-printed films exhibited a smooth morphology on the SPEs at the micro-dimensional scale, as a result of the aggradation and coalescing of the nanoparticles upon deposition. The resulting modified electrodes were both conductive and electroactive, possessing good reversible polyaniline electrochemistry. Such a combination of materials and processing offers the potential of producing a range of low cost, solid state devices such as sensors, actuators and electrochromic devices.