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During the past decade, the application of ambient pressure photoemission spectroscopy (APPES) has been recognized as an important in situ tool to study environmental and materials science, energy related science, and many other fields. Several APPES endstations are currently under planning or development at the USA and international light sources, which will lead to a rapid expansion of this technique. The present work describes the design and performance of a new APPES instrument at the Advanced Light Source beamline 9.3.2 at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This new instrument, Scienta R4000 HiPP, is a result of collaboration between Advanced Light Source and its industrial partner VG-Scienta. The R4000 HiPP provides superior electron transmission as well as spectromicroscopy modes with 16 μm spatial resolution in one dimension and angle-resolved modes with simulated 0.5° angular resolution at 24° acceptance. Under maximum transmission mode, the electron detection efficiency is more than an order of magnitude better than the previous endstation at beamline 9.3.2. Herein we describe the design and performance of the system, which has been utilized to record spectra above 2 mbar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The statistics of low-frequency, long-range acoustic transmissions in the North Pacific Ocean are presented. Broadband signals at center frequencies of 28, 75, and 84 Hz are analyzed at propagation ranges of 3252 to 5171 km, and transmissions were received on 700 and 1400 m long vertical receiver arrays with 35 m hydrophone spacing. In the analysis we focus on the energetic finale region of the broadband time front arrival pattern, where a multipath interference pattern exists. A Fourier analysis of 1 s regions in the finale provide narrowband data for examination as well. Two-dimensional (depth and time) phase unwrapping is employed to study separately the complex field phase and intensity. Because data sampling occured in 20 or 40 min intervals followed by long gaps, the acoustic fields are analyzed in terms of these 20 and 40 min and multiday observation times. An analysis of phase, intensity, and complex envelope variability as a function of depth and time is presented in terms of mean fields, variances, probability density functions (PDFs), covariance, spectra, and coherence. Observations are compared to a random multipath model of frequency and vertical wave number spectra for phase and log intensity, and the observations are compared to a broadband multipath model of scintillation index and coherence. 2005 Acoustical Society of America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new method for robust and accurate fundamental frequency (F0) estimation in the presence of background noise and spectral distortion. Degree of dominance and dominance spectrum are defined based on instantaneous frequencies. The degree of dominance allows one to evaluate the magnitude of individual harmonic components of the speech signals relative to background noise while reducing the influence of spectral distortion. The fundamental frequency is more accurately estimated from reliable harmonic components which are easy to select given the dominance spectra. Experiments are performed using white and babble background noise with and without spectral distortion as produced by a SRAEN filter. The results show that the present method is better than previously reported methods in terms of both gross and fine F0 errors. 2004 Acoustical Society of America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the results of foam Z-pinch experiments performed on the SATURN pulsed-power device at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to study issues associated with the initiation, acceleration, and stagnation phases of the pinch. Time-integrated x-ray crystal spectra; Processes considered in the calculations.

Presents the results of a series of experiments on the spectroscopic analysis of laser-driven implosions at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Records of time-resolved K-shell argon spectra using two spectrographs; Analysis of the helium-beta line associated with lithium like satellites.

We have designed and developed an in-vacuum dust deposition system specifically conceived to simulate and study the effect of accumulation of Martian dust on the electronic instruments of scientific planetary exploration missions. We have used this device to characterize the dust effect on the UV sensor of the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station in the Mars science Laboratory mission of NASA in similar conditions to those found on Mars surface. The UV sensor includes six photodiodes for measuring the radiation in all UV wavelengths (direct incidence and reflected); it is placed on the body of Curiosity rover and it is severely affected by the dust deposited on it. Our experimental setup can help to estimate the duration of reliable reading of this instrument during operation. We have used an analogous of the Martian dust in chemical composition (magnetic species), color, and density, which has been characterized by X-ray spectroscopy. To ensure a Brownian motion of the dust during its fall and a homogeneous coverage on the instrumentation, the operating conditions of the vacuum vessel, determined by partial pressures and temperature, have to be modified to account for the different gravities of Mars with respect to Earth. We propose that our designed device and operational protocol can be of interest to test optoelectronic instrumentation affected by the opacity of dust, as can be the degradation of UV photodiodes in planetary exploration.