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Contrail frequency over Europe from NOAA-satellite images

Contrail cloudiness over Europe and the eastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean was analyzed for the two periods September 1979 - December 1981 and September 1989 - August 1992 by visual inspection of quicklook photographic prints of NOAA/AVHRR infrared images. The averaged contrail cover exhibits maximum values along the transatlantic flight corridor around 50 °N (of almost 2%) and over western Europe resulting in 0.5% contrail cloudiness on average. A strong yearly cycle appears with a maximum (<2%) in spring and summer over the Atlantic and a smaller maximum (<1%) in winter over southwestern Europe. Comparing the two time periods, which are separated by one decade, shows there is a significant decrease in contrail cloudiness over western Europe and a significant increase over the North Atlantic between March and July. Contrail cloud cover during daytime is about twice as high as during nighttime. Contrails are found preferentially in larger fields of 1000 km diameter which usually last for more than a day. Causes, possible errors and consequences are discussed.
Note on the dependence of Pc3-4 activity on the solar wind velocity

Various models that describe the dependence of pulsation amplitude A on the solar wind velocity V are discussed. Phenomenological considerations and experimental data count in favour of a model of the form A/A0=(V/V0) exp (-V0/V). The linear model A=a+bV which is common in the literature gives negative values of amplitude as V->0, which is strange from the physical point of view. The possibility of modifying the linear model by including critical phenomena is discussed.
CRRES/Ground-based multi-instrument observations of an interval of substorm activity

Observations are presented of data taken during a 3-h interval in which five clear substorm onsets/intensifications took place. During this interval ground-based data from the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar, a digital CCD all sky camera, and an extensive array of magnetometers were recorded. In addition data from the CRRES and DMSP spacecraft, whose footprints passed over Scandinavia very close to most of the ground-based instrumentation, are available. The locations and movements of the substorm current system in latitude and longitude, determined from ground and spacecraft magnetic field data, have been correlated with the locations and propagation of increased particle precipitation in the E-region at EISCAT, increased particle fluxes measured by CRRES and DMSP, with auroral luminosity and with ionospheric convection velocities. The onsets and propagation of the injection of magnetospheric particle populations and auroral luminosity have been compared. CRRES was within or very close to the substorm expansion phase onset sector during the interval. The onset region was observed at low latitudes on the ground, and has been confirmed to map back to within L=7 in the magnetotail. The active region was then observed to propagate tailward and poleward. Delays between the magnetic signature of the substorm field aligned currents and field dipolarisation have been measured. The observations support a near-Earth plasma instability mechanism for substorm expansion phase onset.
Evidence of a 50-year increase in tropospheric ozone in Upper Bavaria

In a series of ozone-sonde soundings at the Hohenpeißenberg observatory, starting in 1967, the most striking features are increases of sim2.2% per year in all tropospheric heights up to 8 km during the past 24 years. These facts have recently been published and discussed by several authors. In this paper, we present some evidence for the increase of tropospheric ozone concentrations during the past 50 years 1940-1990 in the territory of the northern edge of the Bavarian Alps, including the Hohenpeißenberg data. In December 1940 and August 1942, probably the first exact wet-chemical vertical soundings of ozone up to 9 km height were made by an aircraft in the region mentioned. These results were published in the earlier literature. We have converted the results of the flights on 4 days in December 1940 and on 6 days in August 1942 to modern units and have compared them with the Hohenpeißenberg ozone-sonde data of the December and August months. We also compared the data at the ground with the August results of Paris-Montsouris 1886-1898. Our results show an increase of ozone concentration at all tropospheric heights in Upper Bavaria during the past 50 years, compared with the Montsouris data in August during the past 105 years. In the recently published papers, the increases since 1967 were approximated linearly.Our results, extended to the past, show non-linear trends, with steeper increases since 1975-1979. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed. Quite recently (in case of the December months since 1986/87, the August months since 1990), the ozone mixing ratios at and above Hohenpeißenberg seem to have decreased.
Non-Gaussian probability distributions of solar wind fluctuations

The probability distributions of field differences ∆x(τ)=x(t+τ)-x(t), where the variable x(t) may denote any solar wind scalar field or vector field component at time t, have been calculated from time series of Helios data obtained in 1976 at heliocentric distances near 0.3 AU. It is found that for comparatively long time lag τ, ranging from a few hours to 1 day, the differences are normally distributed according to a Gaussian. For shorter time lags, of less than ten minutes, significant changes in shape are observed. The distributions are often spikier and narrower than the equivalent Gaussian distribution with the same standard deviation, and they are enhanced for large, reduced for intermediate and enhanced for very small values of ∆x. This result is in accordance with fluid observations and numerical simulations. Hence statistical properties are dominated at small scale τ by large fluctuation amplitudes that are sparsely distributed, which is direct evidence for spatial intermittency of the fluctuations. This is in agreement with results from earlier analyses of the structure functions of ∆x. The non-Gaussian features are differently developed for the various types of fluctuations. The relevance of these observations to the interpretation and understanding of the nature of solar wind magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is pointed out, and contact is made with existing theoretical concepts of intermittency in fluid turbulence.
The dynamic cusp at low altitudes: a case study utilizing Viking, DMSP-F7, and Sondrestrom incoherent scatter radar observations

Coincident multi-instrument magnetospheric and ionospheric observations have made it possible to determine the position of the ionospheric footprint of the magnetospheric cusp and to monitor its evolution over time. The data used include charged particle and magnetic field measurements from the Earth-orbiting Viking and DMSP-F7 satellites, electric field measurements from Viking, interplanetary magnetic field and plasma data from IMP-8, and Sondrestrom incoherent scatter radar observations of the ionospheric plasma density, temperature, and convection. Viking detected cusp precipitation poleward of 75.5° invariant latitude. The ionospheric response to the observed electron precipitation was simulated using an auroral model. It predicts enhanced plasma density and elevated electron temperature in the upper E- and F-regions. Sondrestrom radar observations are in agreement with the predictions. The radar detected a cusp signature on each of five consecutive antenna elevation scans covering 1.2 h local time. The cusp appeared to be about 2° invariant latitude wide, and its ionospheric footprint shifted equatorward by nearly 2° during this time, possibly influenced by an overall decrease in the IMF Bz component. The radar plasma drift data and the Viking magnetic and electric field data suggest that the cusp was associated with a continuous, rather than a patchy, merging between the IMF and the geomagnetic field.
The geometrical and fractal properties of visible radiances associated with breaking waves in the ocean

We consider the natural processes of wind-wave-breaking in the ocean in terms of fractal dimension. Digital algorithms for the analysis of aircraft optical images are employed to investigate spatial and statistical characteristics of foam streaks and whitecaps. The new results are as follows: 1. the fractal dimension of the wave-breaking set (foam streaks and whitecaps) depends on the ocean surface state and changes from dH=1.05 to 1.25; 2. the fractal dimension differs from foam streaks and whitecaps - ds=1.23 and 1.39, respectively.
Plasma gradient effects on double-probe measurements in the magnetosphere

The effects on double-probe electric field measurements induced by electron density and temperature gradients are investigated. We show that on some occasions such gradients may lead to marked spurious electric fields if the probes are assumed to lie at the same probe potential with respect to the plasma. The use of a proper bias current will decrease the magnitude of such an error. When the probes are near the plasma potential, the magnitude of these error signals, ∆E, can vary as ∆E ~ Te(∆ne/ne)+0.5∆Te, where Te is the electron temperature, ∆ne/ne the relative electron density variation between the two sensors, and ∆Te the electron temperature difference between the two sensors. This not only implies that the error signals will increase linearly with the density variations but also that such signatures grow with Te, i.e., such effects are 10 times larger in a 10-eV plasma than in a 1-eV plasma. This type of error is independent of the probe separation distance provided the gradient scale length is much larger than this distance. The largest errors occur when the probes are near to the plasma potential. At larger positive probe potentials with respect to the plasma potential, the error becomes smaller if the probes are biased, as is usually the case with spherical double-probe experiments in the tenuous magnetospheric plasmas. The crossing of a plasma boundary (like the plasmapause or magnetopause) yields an error signal of a single peak. During the crossing of a small structure (e.g., a double layer) the error signal appears as a bipolar signature. Our analysis shows that errors in double-probe measurements caused by plasma gradients are not significant at large scale (»1 km) plasma boundaries, and may only be important in cases where small-scale (<1 km), internal gradient structures exist. Bias currents tailored for each plasma parameter regime (i.e., variable bias current) would o1q1improve the double-probe response to gradient effects considerably.
Solar wind and magnetosphere plasma diagnostics by spacecraft electrostatic potential measurements

Several satellites (GEOS-1, GEOS-2, ISEE-1, Viking and CRRES) carried electric field experiments on which probes were driven by a current from the satellite to be close to the plasma potential. The potential difference between an electric field probe and its spacecraft (with conductive surfaces) can be used to determine the ambient electron density and/or electron flux with limited accuracy but with high time resolution, of the order of 10-100 ms. It is necessary for the development of this diagnostic method to understand the photoemission characteristics of probes and satellites. According to the electric field experiments on the above-mentioned satellites, all materials develop very similar photoemission properties when they are beyond the influence of atmospheric oxygen. The photoelectron yield steadily increases over the first few months in space and reaches values well above those measured on clean surfaces in the laboratory. The method can be used for solar radiation levels corresponding to distances from 0.4 to 5 AU from the Sun.
Interference filter spectral imaging of twilight O+(2P-2D) emission

A spectral imager specifically designed to measure the O+(2P-2D) emission in the thermosphere during twilight has been constructed and tested in Toronto (43.8°N, 79.3°W), and found to show promise for long-term and campaign-mode operations. A modification of the mesopause oxygen rotational temperature imager (MORTI), it consists basically of a narrow-band interference filter (0.14 nm bandwidth) to separate wavelengths as a function of off-axis angle, a lens to focus the spectrum into a series of concentric rings, and a focal plane array (CCD) to record the spectral images in digital form. The instrument was built with two fields of view, one for the zenith and one for 20° above the horizon, movable to track the azimuth of the Sun, in order to provide appropriate data for inversion. Data gathered during June 1991 provided measurements of the column-integrated emission rate with a precision of about 3%. An atomic oxygen profile was deduced that showed good agreement with that predicted by the MSIS-90 model atmosphere. Geomagnetically induced variations of the O+ lines, calcium spectra resulting from meteor showers, and OH nightglow were also observed.