Hexagonal Columns Research Articles

Remote sensing of ice crystal asymmetry parameter using multi-directional polarization measurements – Part 1: Methodology and evaluation with simulated measurements

Abstract. We present a new remote sensing technique to infer the average asymmetry parameter of ice crystals near cloud top from multi-directional polarization measurements. The method is based on previous findings that (a) complex aggregates of hexagonal crystals generally have scattering phase matrices resembling those of their components; and (b) scattering phase matrices systematically vary with aspect ratios of crystals and their degree of microscale surface roughness. Ice cloud asymmetry parameters are inferred from multi-directional polarized reflectance measurements by searching for the closest fit in a look-up table of simulated polarized reflectances computed for cloud layers that contain individual, randomly oriented hexagonal columns and plates with varying aspect ratios and roughness values. The asymmetry parameter of the hexagonal particle that leads to the best fit with the measurements is considered the retrieved value. For clouds with optical thickness less than 5, the cloud optical thickness must be retrieved simultaneously with the asymmetry parameter, while for optically thicker clouds the asymmetry parameter retrieval is independent of cloud optical thickness. Evaluation of the technique using simulated measurements based on the optical properties of a number of complex particles and their mixtures shows that the ice crystal asymmetry parameters are generally retrieved to within 5%, or about 0.04 in absolute terms. The retrieval scheme is largely independent of calibration errors, range and sampling density of scattering angles and random noise in the measurements. The approach can be applied to measurements of past, current and future airborne and satellite instruments that measure multi-directional polarized reflectances of ice-topped clouds.

Deposition of ZnO Particles by Photocatalytic Reaction

Abstract Zinc oxide (ZnO) particles were deposited on a very thin titanium dioxide film by a photocatalytic reaction. The particles were formed in an aqueous solution of 0.10 mol dm−3 zinc nitrate at 343 K. The particles consisted of crystals with 0.20–1.0 µm-sized hexagonal columns. A photocurrent was observed in the electrodes containing such ZnO crystals during light irradiation.

Electrodeposition of ZnO coatings from aqueous Zn(NO3)2 baths: effect of Zn concentration, deposition temperature, and time on orientation

Cathodic reduction of zinc nitrate solution results in the deposition of ZnO crystallites with a strong c-axis orientation. The orientation of crystallites can be switched to 10l (l = 1, 2, 3) direction by varying the bath concentration (0.04–0.1 M) and the deposition conditions (T, 50–70 °C; t, 30–90 min). The range of concentrations yielding c-axis orientation can be widened at a high deposition temperature. At 0.1 M bath concentration and long deposition times, crystallites are oriented along 10l (l = 3) direction. At low temperature (50 °C), 100 oriented nanostructured ZnO coatings are obtained (crystallite size, 20–35 nm). The c-axis-oriented crystallites grow as hexagonal columns perpendicular to substrate and 10l-oriented crystallites grow tilted at different angles to the substrate surface.

Study of Horizontally Oriented Ice Crystals with CALIPSO Observations and Comparison with Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer Simulations

AbstractData from the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) indicate that horizontally oriented ice crystals (HOIC) occur frequently in both ice and mixed-phase clouds. When compared with the case for clouds consisting of randomly oriented ice crystals (ROIC), lidar measurements from clouds with HOIC, such as horizontally oriented hexagonal plates or columns, have stronger backscatter signals and smaller depolarization ratio values. In this study, a 3D Monte Carlo model is developed for simulating the CALIOP signals from clouds consisting of a mixture of quasi HOIC and ROIC. With CALIOP’s initial orientation with a pointing angle of 0.3° off nadir, the integrated attenuated backscatter is linearly related to the percentage of HOIC but is negatively related to the depolarization ratio. At a later time in the CALIOP mission, the pointing angle of the incident beam was changed to 3° off nadir to minimize the signal from HOIC. In this configuration, both the backscatter and the depolarization ratio are similar for clouds containing HOIC and ROIC. Horizontally oriented columns with two opposing prism facets perpendicular to the lidar beam and horizontally oriented plates show similar backscattering features, but the effect of columns is negligible in comparison with that of plates because the plates have relatively much larger surfaces facing the incident lidar beam. From the comparison between the CALIOP simulations and observations, it is estimated that the percentage of quasi-horizontally oriented plates ranges from 0% to 6% in optically thick mixed-phase clouds, from 0% to 3% in warm ice clouds (>−35°C), and from 0% to 0.5% in cold ice clouds.

Bypass flow computations using a one-twelfth symmetric sector for normal operation in a 350 MWth prismatic VHTR

Significant uncertainty exists about the effects of bypass flow in a prismatic gas-cooled very high temperature reactor (VHTR). Bypass flow is the flow in the gaps between prismatic graphite blocks in the core. The gaps are present because of variations in graphite block construction, imperfect installation and expansion and shrinkage from thermal heating and neutron fluence. Calculations are performed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for flow of the helium coolant in the gap and coolant channels along with conjugate heat generation and heat transfer in the fuel compacts and core graphite. A commercial CFD code is used for all of the computations. A one-twelfth sector of a standard hexagonal block column is used for the CFD model because of its symmetry. Various scenarios are investigated including varying the gap width, varying the total heat generation between average and peak rates and varying the graphite block geometry to account for the effects of shrinkage caused by irradiation. The calculations are for a 350MWth prismatic reactor. It is shown that the effect of increasing gap width, while maintaining the same total mass flow rate, causes increased maximum fuel temperature while providing significant cooling to the near-gap region. The maximum outlet coolant temperature variation is increased by the presence of gap flow and also by an increase in total heat generation. The effect of block shrinkage is actually to decrease maximum fuel temperature compared to a similar reference case.

Application of the pseudo-spectral time domain method to compute particle single-scattering properties for size parameters up to 200

The applicability, efficiency, and accuracy of the pseudo-spectral time domain (PSTD) method are investigated with specific emphasis on the computation of the single-scattering properties of homogeneous dielectric particles. By truncating the high spectral terms, the Gibbs phenomenon is eliminated, and, consequently, the applicability of the PSTD is enhanced. The PSTD simulations for ice spheres, with moderate refractive indices and size parameters up to 200, are compared with the exact Lorenz–Mie solutions at three wavelengths. In addition, the comparison is extended to a case with an extremely large refractive index (7.150+i2.914) and size parameters up to 40. Furthermore, the single-scattering properties of randomly oriented spheroids and circular cylinders for size parameters up to 150 and 75, respectively, are calculated with the PSTD in comparison with those computed from the T-matrix method. The aspect ratio of the spheroid and the diameter-to-length ratio of the circular cylinder are 0.5 and 1, respectively. The relative errors, given by the PSTD for these randomly oriented non-spherical particles, are smaller than 2% for the extinction efficiencies and asymmetry factors and less than 30% for the phase function. The PSTD is also employed to compute the phase matrices of randomly oriented hexagonal columns with size parameters of 50 and 100. The simulations show the PSTD to be a robust method for simulating the single-scattering properties of particles with small-to-medium size parameters and for a wide range of refractive indices.

Solid-State Thermolysis of Anion Induced Metal–Organic Frameworks to ZnO Microparticles with Predefined Morphologies: Facile Synthesis and Solar Cell Studies

Simple one-step solid state thermolysis of two Zn-based homochiral metal organic frameworks (MOFs) leads to a dramatic difference in morphologies which depends on the anion (-Cl and -Br) and calcination environment (air and N2). Rod-shaped (aspect ratio ∼ 20), hexagonal column shaped (aspect ratio ∼ 3), and elliptical aggregation of ZnO morphologies (aspect ratio ∼ 3) are obtained and characterized. Although these two MOFs possess similar rod-shaped morphology, they produce dramatic change in resulting ZnO microparticle morphologies (from rod-shaped ZnO microparticles in the case of thermolysis of MOF 1 to hexagonal column shaped ZnO microparticles in the case of MOF 2 thermolysis) when calcined in N2 at 800 °C. However, when we calcined both MOF 1 and 2 in air, we encountered similar elliptical aggregation of ZnO microparticles. These ZnO microparticles show permanent porosity, visible light emission centered at 605 or 510 nm. Moreover, they show 0.15% and 0.14% dye sensitized solar cell activity. To the...

Sensitivity study of global contrail radiative forcing due to particle shape

[1] Global calculations of the radiative forcing (RF) that is due to contrails for various crystal shapes are performed. A radiative transfer model, which takes into account ice crystals' single-scattering properties both calculated and acquired from the literature, is used to simulate solar and infrared fluxes. Contrail RF includes results obtained for 10 various, randomly oriented in space, crystal habits such as hexagonal plates and hexagonal columns with different aspect ratios, among others. The global and annual mean shortwave, longwave, and net contrail RF, averaged over all crystal models and assuming an optical depth of 0.3 at visible wavelengths, are −5.7, 16.8, and 11.1 mW/m2, respectively. Simulations performed for the clear-sky (without background cloudiness) conditions show a similar net radiative forcing of 11.0 mW/m2, but stronger shortwave (−9.9 mW/m2) and longwave (20.9 mW/m2) RFs compared with those of the cloudy case. The influence of ambient clouds on the net contrail RF is small and depends only slightly on the contrail optical depth and particle shape. However, the particle shape has a strong impact on the contrail RF. A ratio of the RFs' standard deviation to the mean value, derived using 10 different ice particle models, is about 0.2 for the shortwave, 0.14 for the longwave, and 0.23 for the net radiation. An even larger uncertainty, besides the optical model, in global contrail RF estimations is the assumed optical depth. Model simulations show a 27% difference in RF related to a change of the contrail optical depth by ±0.1 from the reference value of 0.3 (at 550 nm). This value is almost invariant to the choice of crystal model, ranging between 25% and 28%.

Modelling diffraction by facetted particles

A method to approximate azimuthally resolved light scattering patterns and phase functions due to diffraction and external reflection by strongly absorbing facetted particles is demonstrated for a cube and compared with results from an exact method, T-matrix. A phase function averaged over a range of orientations of a strongly absorbing hexagonal column of aspect ratio unity has been calculated and tested against Discrete Dipole Approximation (DDA) results for a size parameter of 50.

Computer simulation of the columnar phases of liquid crystalline bolaamphiphiles

We review the use of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations to explore the columnar phases of tri- and tetra-block liquid crystalline bolaamphiphiles. We show how computer models can reproduce the phase behaviour of real molecules, exhibiting columnar phases of different symmetries depending on the lateral chain length(s), and also provide other structural information not so readily available from experiment. We also present simulations of some novel structural motifs that exhibit new multi-columnar phases and mechanisms for relieving different types of frustration. The columnar phases of three asymmetric X-shaped bolaamphiphiles are explored by varying the lateral arm lengths; an unfrustrated kagome phase consisting of hexagonal and triangular columns, and two frustrated phases consisting of hexagonal and rhombic (square) columns and octagonal and square columns, respectively.

Heterologous expression, refolding and functional characterization of two antifreeze proteins from Fragilariopsis cylindrus (Bacillariophyceae)

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) provide protection for organisms subjected to the presence of ice crystals. The psychrophilic diatom Fragilariopsis cylindrus which is frequently found in polar sea ice carries a multitude of AFP isoforms. In this study we report the heterologous expression of two antifreeze protein isoforms from F. cylindrus in Escherichia coli. Refolding from inclusion bodies produced proteins functionally active with respect to crystal deformation, recrystallization inhibition and thermal hysteresis. We observed a reduction of activity in the presence of the pelB leader peptide in comparison with the GS-linked SUMO-tag. Activity was positively correlated to protein concentration and buffer salinity. Thermal hysteresis and crystal deformation habit suggest the affiliation of the proteins to the hyperactive group of AFPs. One isoform, carrying a signal peptide for secretion, produced a thermal hysteresis up to 1.53°C±0.53°C and ice crystals of hexagonal bipyramidal shape. The second isoform, which has a long preceding N-terminal sequence of unknown function, produced thermal hysteresis of up to 2.34°C±0.25°C. Ice crystals grew in form of a hexagonal column in presence of this protein. The different sequences preceding the ice binding domain point to distinct localizations of the proteins inside or outside the cell. We thus propose that AFPs have different functions in vivo, also reflected in their specific TH capability.

Simulations of Contrail Optical Properties and Radiative Forcing for Various Crystal Shapes

AbstractThe aim of this study is to investigate the sensitivity of radiative-forcing computations to various contrail crystal shape models. Contrail optical properties in the shortwave and longwave ranges are derived using a ray-tracing geometric method and the discrete dipole approximation method, respectively. Both methods present good correspondence of the single-scattering albedo and the asymmetry parameter in a transition range (3–8 μm). There are substantial differences in single-scattering properties among 10 crystal models investigated here (e.g., hexagonal columns and plates with different aspect ratios, and spherical particles). The single-scattering albedo and the asymmetry parameter both vary by up to 0.1 among various crystal shapes. The computed single-scattering properties are incorporated in the moderate-resolution atmospheric radiance and transmittance model (MODTRAN) radiative transfer code to simulate solar and infrared fluxes at the top of the atmosphere. Particle shapes have a strong impact on the contrail radiative forcing in both the shortwave and longwave ranges. The differences in the net radiative forcing among optical models reach 50% with respect to the mean model value. The hexagonal-column and hexagonal-plate particles show the smallest net radiative forcing, and the largest forcing is obtained for the spheres. The balance between the shortwave forcing and longwave forcing is highly sensitive with respect to the assumed crystal shape and may even change the sign of the net forcing. The optical depth at which the mean diurnal radiative forcing changes sign from positive to negative varies from 4.5 to 10 for a surface albedo of 0.2 and from 2 to 6.5 for a surface albedo of 0.05. Contrails are probably never that optically thick (except for some aged contrail cirrus), however, and so will not have a cooling effect on climate.

Mesomorphous structure change by tail chain number in ionic liquid crystalline complexes of linear polymer and amphiphiles

Three polymer–amphiphile complexes were prepared by combining poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) with the potassium salt of mono-, di-, and trisubstituted benzoic acid dendrons (4-octyloxybenzoic acid, 3,5-dioctyloxybenzoic acid, and 3,4,5-trioctyloxybenzoic acid). The solid structure and properties were monitored with FT-IR, XRD, TG, DSC, and polarized optical microscope (POM). Difference in the tail chain number of the dendritic amphiphile induced two different mesomorphous structures: lamella for the mono-, disubstituted dendron containing complexes and hexagonal column for the trisubstituted dendron containing complexes. These corresponded to the ionic thermotropic liquid crystal SmA and Φh phases, respectively. This finding is significant for design of functional nanostructures based on the ionic complexation of polymers and amphiphiles.

Characteristics of CALIPSO and CloudSat Backscatter at the Top Center Layers of Mesoscale Convective Systems and Relation to Cloud Microphysics

Abstract Following the discovery of anomalously high values of lidar integrated attenuated backscatter near the top center layers of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) observed by the NASA Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE), a search of Cloud Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) data on board the Cloud Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) platform revealed the same phenomena in a sample of eight MCSs investigated. The backscatter depolarization ratio also showed changes concurrent with the high integrated backscatter and either increased or decreased concurrently with the anomalous backscatter. Simultaneous CloudSat data in the A-Train formation showed a cloud-top altitude similar to that measured by CALIOP, indicating fairly large ice crystals were reaching cloud top. Based on previous work, the CALIOP and CloudSat returns were likely due to a mix of small ice droxtals or frozen drops extending in a continuous spectrum to large crystals composed of well-formed hexagonal columns, thick hexagonal plates, spheroids, and irregular particles. The CALIOP lidar would detect the whole spectrum whereas CloudSat would detect ice crystals greater than ∼30 μm in effective radius; there were apparently enough of such crystals to allow CloudSat to detect a cloud-top height similar to that found by CALIOP. Using such a model, it was estimated that the measured backscatter phase function in the most active part of the cloud could be reconciled approximately with theoretical values of the various crystal habits. However, it was harder to reconcile the changes in depolarization ratio given the absence of values of this parameter for small droxtal crystals.

Investigations on the physical and optical properties of cirrus clouds and their relationship with ice nuclei concentration using LIDAR at Gadanki, India (13.5°N, 79.2°E)

Cirrus cloud measurements over the tropics are receiving much attention recently due to their role in the Earth's radiation budget. The interaction of water vapor and aerosols plays a major role in phase formation of cirrus clouds. Many factors control the ice supersaturation and microphysical properties in cirrus clouds and, as such, investigations on these properties of cirrus clouds are critical for proper understanding and simulating the climate. In this paper we report on the evolution, microphysical, and optical properties of cirrus clouds using the Mie LIDAR operation at the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki, India (13.5°N, 79.2°E), an inland tropical station. The occurrence statistics, height, optical depth, depolarization ratio of the cirrus clouds, and their relationship with ice nuclei concentration were investigated over 29 days of observation during the year 2002. Cirrus clouds with a base altitude as low as 8.4 km are observed during the month of January and clouds with a maximum top height of 17.1 km are observed during the month of May. The cirrus has a mean thickness of 2 km during the period of study. The LIDAR ratio varies from 30 to 36 sr during the summer days of observation and 25 to 31 sr during the winter days of observation. Depolarization values range from 0.1 to 0.58 during the period of observation. The ice nuclei concentration has been calculated using the De Motts equation. It is observed that during the monsoon months of June, July, and August, there appears to be an increase in the ice nuclei number concentration. From the depolarization data an attempt is made to derive the ice crystal orientation and their structure of the cirrus. Crystal structures such as thin plates, thick plates, regular hexagons, and hexagonal columns are observed in the study. From the observed crystal structure and ice nuclei concentration, the possible nucleation mechanism is suggested.

Self assembled CdLa2S4hexagon flowers, nanoprisms and nanowires: novel photocatalysts for solar hydrogen production

We report here a new ternary chalcogenide material, cadmium lanthanum sulfide (CdLa2S4) produced using a facile hydrothermal method at 433 K. The effect of the solvent on the morphology of the CdLa2S4 was demonstrated for the first time. The prima facie observations revealed the formation of highly crystalline hexagonal structures in the form of flowers in aqueous medium. The flowers comprise hexagonal columns ∼300 nm in diameter and 1–1.2 μm in length. All the hexagonal structures have a sharp tip with a cavity of 10 nm and are almost equal in size. The nanoprisms have an average base size of 35 nm with 35 nm edges, and the nanowires have a diameter of 10–15 nm; both were obtained in methanol. Crystal and electronic structure calculations were performed using the Vienna ab initio simulation package (VASP) based on density functional theory (DFT). Considering the band gap of pristine CdLa2S4 in the visible region (2.3 eV), we have demonstrated CdLa2S4 as a photocatalyst for the production of H2 under solar light. Nanostructured CdLa2S4 prisms gave the maximum hydrogen production, i.e. 2552 μmol h−1. Being a stable ternary nanostructured metal sulfide (with nanohexagons, nanoprisms, nanowires), CdLa2S4 may have other potential prospective applications in solar cells and optoelectronic devices.

Origin of the Parry arc

AbstractLaboratory experiments to determine the preferred orientation of free‐falling hexagonal prisms were performed at Reynolds numbers appropriate to falling ice crystals in the atmosphere. Hexagonal plates orient with their c axis vertical for aspect ratios < 0.9, whilst hexagonal columns fall with their c axis horizontal. A secondary alignment is also observed: regular hexagonal columns fall preferentially with two prism facets aligned vertically and not horizontally – the latter scenario was previously assumed to be responsible for the rare Parry arc. However, if the column is made scalene in its cross‐section, it can orient such that a pair of prism facets is horizontal. This finding indicates that the development of scalene crystals may be key to the production of certain ice‐crystal optical phenomena. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society

Optical properties of cirrus clouds at a tropical Indian station Gadanki, Tirupati (13.5°N, 79.2°E)

The optical properties of the cirrus clouds over a tropical inland station Gadanki, Tirupati were studied using a dual polarization lidar. The extinction coefficient, backscatter coefficient, optical depth and linear depolarization of the cirrus clouds are derived using the range dependent lidar ratio. This work reports the results obtained during the period of December 2006 to July 2007 which covers the three prominent seasons of the year in the Indian subcontinent. A variety of ice crystals like hexagonal thin plate, thick plate, columns, dendrites and aggregates were observed within the cloud. The geometrical and optical thicknesses of the clouds show strong seasonal variations. The occurrence frequency of thin cirrus clouds was found to be relatively high as compared to sub-visible and dense clouds. In almost all the cases, the cloud contains smaller ice crystals in the top part, larger crystals in the middle portion and mixed phase in the bottom portion. Compared to the winter and summer seasons the horizontally oriented ice crystals were observed more in monsoon period. The lidar ratio and linear depolarization ratio of the cirrus clouds were in the range of 3-40 sr and 0.1-1.5 respectively. The maximum linear depolarization ratio was observed for the clouds containing randomly oriented ice crystal with temperature below -80°C. The lidar ratio was found to be maximum for the thin plate crystals and minimum for thick clouds with horizontally oriented ice crystals. The extinction and backscattering coefficients of the clouds were in the range of 0.3x10-4 to 6 x10-4 m-1 and 0.12x10-4 to 3x10-4 m-1 sr-1 respectively during the observation period.

Crystal structure of K6CrNb15O42

K6CrNb15O42 crystallizes in the hexagonal system with a =9.126 (3) Å, c =12.068(3) Å, V =870.4(5) Å2, and space group P62 / mcm, Z =1. The structure was solved using direct method and Fourier Techniques. Of the 829 unique reflections measured by counter techniques, 448 with 1 ≥ 3σ(I) were used in the least-squares refinement of the model to R =0.034 (Rw =0.044). The structure of K6CrNb15O42 may be described as consisting of corner-shared and edge-shared octahedra, the ring units composed of six octahedra of Nb(1) are corner-shared one another along the c-axis to form hexagonal column octahedra chains which are connected by K+ and octahedra of Nb(2).

Morphology and photoluminescence study of electrodeposited ZnO films

ZnO films on ITO substrates and Au coated ITO substrates were fabricated by using electrodeposition technique. We carried out the experiments by adjusting the concentration of solution, potential, substrate, and temperature. The effect of temperature on the growth of the film has been examined. SEM images have shown that there are several kinds of grown competitions for the deposition of ZnO films, but three kinds of them are dominant. One is the discrete hexagonal column structure, the other is the pentagonal structure, and the third one is of well-oriented hexagonal columns with well-aligned structure. The explanation on the grown competition is discussed. ZnO hexagonal column structures with well-aligned and well-perpendicular to the surface were successfully obtained on Au/ITO substrate in aqueous solvent of electrolyte. Clearly the main columns in the film were obtained by increasing the temperature. Its photoluminescence (PL) study at low temperature exhibited the optical properties as wurtzite ZnO and indicated the existence of macrocrystalline ZnO. A better quality of ZnO columnar structures after annealing was demonstrated from PL analysis and discussion on the existence of 370 nm, 384 nm and 639 nm in the emission bands before and after annealing.