Preliminary results of FeO mapping using Imaging Interferometer data from Chang'E-1

Information about the variability,and spatial distribution of iron abundance is important to understand lunar geological history and for future resource utilization. In this paper we present a preliminary model to produce an iron abundance map using images taken by an Imaging Interferometer on board the satellite Chang’E-1. Compared with the Clementine UVVIS images,the images from the Chang’E-1 satellite also allowed for the extraction of FeO abundance distributions on the Moon. However,the prelimi-nary model results suggest an underestimation of ～2 wt.% for the FeO content of the mare region and an overestimation of ～3 wt.% for the highland region.     

Photometric modeling of the Moon using Lommel-Seeliger function and Chang’E-1 IIM data

The imaging intefferometer （IIM） aboard the Chang＇E-1 lunar orbiter is the first multispectral imaging spectrometer for Chinese lunar missions. Before science applications （e.g., FeO and TiO= mapping） of the IIM raw data, the radiance variation due to changes in illumination and viewing geometry has to be removed from the radiometrically calibrated IIM Level 2A images. To achieve this, we fit the IIM Level 2A radiance data with a Lornmel-Seeliger photometric model consisting of an exponential term and a fourth order polynomial in the phase function, without distinguishing between lunar maria and highlands. The exponential and the fourth order polynomial parameters are derived separately by fitting to two datasets divided at a solar phase angle threshold, avoiding a decrease in the phase function close to zero phase angle. Different phase angle thresholds result in coincident fitting curves between 20° and 75°, while large discrepancies occur at other phase angles. Then the derived photometric model is used to normalize the IIM Level 2A data to radiance values at an incidence and phase angle of 30° and emission angle of 0°. Our photometric model is validated by comparing two photometrically normalized IIM radiance spectra covering the same areas, showing a relative deviation consistent with the IIM preflight calibration.     

New moon from an old hand

The outcome of the Apollo lunar exploration program 1969-1974 was a model of lunar petrogenesis which ignored the probability of selective volatilisation of gases and alkalis from fire-fountaining lunar basalts. It overlooked the fact that the average compositions of the erupted basalts were those of plagioclase-saturated and low-pressure cotectic liquids on eruption, clearly indicating that they were not primary magmas. The basalts may have undergone evolution by gabbro fractionation within the lunar crust, perhaps in large lava lakes now solidified as the lunar maria. The existing model involving a global magma ocean and plagioclase flotation to form the lunar crust arises solely from the incorrect assumption that the basalts are primary magmas. The plagioclase flotation hypothesis requires the presence of a significant positive europium anomaly in the lunar highland crust, and was founded upon its alleged presence. However, that positive anomaly is neither established by the original data set nor by the much broader current data set. Critical observations, and experiments which will advance the debate are suggested, and alternative interpretations outlined.     

Orbit determination of Chang＇E-3 and positioning of the lander and the rover

Chang＇E-3 landed on the east of Sinus Iridum area on December 14, 2013, performing China＇s first successful soft landing on the lunar surface. We present the results on precision orbit determination and positioning of the lander and the rover. We and methods used to achieve period December 2-21, 2014. describe the data, modeling, position knowledge over the In addition to the radiometric X-band range and Doppler tracking data, delta differential one-way ranging data are also used in the calculation, which show that they strongly improve the accuracy of the orbit reconstruction. Total position overlap differences are about 20 and 30m for the 100km × 100km and 100 kmx 15 km lunar orbit, respectively, increased by ,- 50 % with respect to CE-2 and at the same level as other lunar spacecrafts of recent era such as SELENE and lunar reconnaissance orbiter （LRO）. The position error of the soft landing trajectory is less than 100 m. A kinematic statistical method is applied to determine the position of the lander and relative position of the rover with respect to the lander. The position difference of the lander is better than 50 m compared to LRO photograph result. Compared with the delta very long baseline interferometry （VLBI） group delay between the lander and the rover, the delta VLBI phase delay can improve the relative position of the rover from ～ 1,000 to ～1 m.     

Climate as the dominant control on C3 and C4 plant abundance in the Loess Plateau： Organic carbon isotope evidence from the last glacial-interglacial loess-soil sequences

Abundance of C3 and C4 photosynthesis plants can be inferred relatively from stable carbon isotopic composition of organic matter in soils. The samples from five sequences of the last glacial-interglacial loess-soil in the Chinese Loess Plateau have been measured for organic carbon isotopic ratios (613Corg). The organic carbon isotope data show that relative abundance (or biomass) of C4 plants was increased ca. 40% for each sampling site from the last glacial maximum (LGM) to Holocene optimum, and increased southeastward on the Loess Plateau during both periods of LGM and Holocene. Statistic analyses on the steady maximum δ^13Corg values of Holocene soils and modern climatic data from the Loess Plateau and Inner Mongolia indicate that the C4 plant abundance increases with increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation. The C4 plant abundance is related much closer with mean April temperature and precipitation than annual. These results lead us to deduce following conclusions. First, temperature is the major factor for control on variations in C4 plant abundance in the Loess Plateau from the last glacial to interglacial. In the absence of favorable temperature condition, both of low moisture and low atmospheric CO2 concentration are insufficient to drive an expansion of the C4 plants in the plateau. Second,δ^13Corg in the loess-paleosol sequences, as a proxy of the relative abundance of C4 plants in the Loess Plateau, could not be used as an indicator of changes in the summer monsoon intensity unless the temperature had changed without great amplitude. Since all C4 plants are grasses, finally, the increase of the C4 plants supports that forest has not been dominant in the ecosystem on the Loess Plateau during Holocene although precipitation and atmospheric CO2 were largely increased relative to those during LGM.     

Determination of the controlled landing trajectory of Chang’E-1 satellite and the coordinate analysis of the landing point on the Moon

Based on the tracking observations of radio ranges and VLBI delays of Chang’E-1 (CE-1) satellite during the controlled landing on the Moon on March 1, 2009, the landing trajectory and the coordinates of the landing point are determined by positioning analysis. It is shown that the landing epoch (the emission epoch of the last signal) of CE-1 satellite on the Moon was at UTC8h13m6.51s. The lunar longitude, latitude and surface height of the landing point in the lunar primary axes frame are respectively 52.27...     

Development of a database system for operational use in the selection of titanium alloys

The selection of titanium alloys has become a complex decision-making task due to the growing number of creation and utilization for titanium alloys, with each having its own characteristics, advantages, and limitations. In choosing the most appropriate titanium alloys, it is very essential to offer a reasonable and intelligent service for technical engineers. One possible solution of this problem is to develop a database system (DS) to help retrieve rational proposals from different databases and information sources and analyze them to provide useful and explicit information. For this purpose, a design strategy of the fuzzy set theory is proposed, and a distributed database system is developed. Through ranking of the candidate titanium alloys, the most suitable material is determined. It is found that the selection results are in good agreement with the practical situation.     

Evaluation of the occurrence possibility of SNP in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica napus</Emphasis> with sliding window features by using RBF networks

We extract some physical and chemical features re-lated to the occurrence of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) from three groups of sliding windows around SNP site,and then make the predictions about accuracy by using radial basis function (RBF) networks. The result of the forward sliding windows sug-gests that the accuracies and Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC values) ascend with the increasing of length of sliding windows. The accuracies range from 73.27 % to 80.69 %,and MCC values range from 0.465 to 0.614. The backward sliding windows and the sliding windows with fixed length three are de-signed to find the crucial sites related to SNP. The results imply that the occurrence possibility of SNP relies heavily on the above physical and chemical features of sites which are at a distance around 20 bases from the SNP site. Compared with the support vector machine (SVM),our RBF network approach has achieved more satisfactory results.     

Sodium resonance lidar observations during 2001 Leonid meteor shower over Wuhan

Here is the first report on the observation of meteor ablation trails with lidar in China. Four long-lived Na ablation trails were observed during the 18/19 Nov. 2001 Leonid meteor shower with a sodium resonance lidar over Wuhan. The mean altitude of the 4 trails is 97.95 km, consistent with Leonid high entry velocity (-72 km/s). The peak density averages about 3380±3633 cm-3, and the abundance is (2.33±1.49)×108 cm-2 , both of which are higher than those previously observed for sporadic meteor trails. The RMS width is 359 m and the meteor's age is 81 min, indicating that they are long duration meteor trails. These observation results are quite different from those of sporadic meteor trails, but comparable to the 1998 and 1999 Leonid report. Five night observations from 17 Nov. to 23 Nov. suggest that the 2001 Leonid meteor shower does not have a significant impact on the abundance of the background Na layer.     

The modeling analysis of microwave emission from stratified media of non-uniform lunar cratered terrain surface for Chinese Chang-E 1 observation

In China’s first lunar exploration project,Chang-E 1,the multi-channel (3.0,7.8,19.35,37 GHz) microwave radiometers were aboard the satellite,with the purpose of measuring microwave brightness temperature from lunar surface and surveying the global distribution of lunar regolith layer thickness,and global evaluation of 3He content.To analyze the modeling of microwave radiative transfer from three-layered media of lunar surface,some factors,such as the cratered lunar surface roughness,scattering of regolith particulate medium with temperature profile,are discussed.Based on the statistics of the lunar cratered terrain and using Monte Carlo (MC) method,the cratered lunar surfaces are numerically generated.The triangulated network is utilized to divide the undulated lunar surface into discrete triangle meshes with the size 10 m as a digital surface topography.The reflectivities of each plane mesh are calculated,and the average reflectivity for all MC-realized lunar surfaces is obtained.It is found that under the spatial resolution of 30 km×30 km of Chang-E 1 radiometer observation,the lunar surface can be well modeled as a flat surface.It makes the predominance of the parameters,such as the regolith layer thickness and stratified structures,to be studied.Using the radiative transfer equation of stratified media with dense scatterers,the scattering coefficient of the regolith particulate medium is found negligible,and the emission is mainly governed by the absorptive property of the medium.Brightness temperature of multi-layered media,i.e.lunar soil,regolith layer with temperature profile and underlying rock media,are derived and calculated,and relevant main factors to affect the modeling and emission simulation are analyzed.     

Synthesis,characterization,and theoretical study of N,S-codoped nano-TiO2 with photocatalytic activities

Nitrogen and sulfur doped titanium dioxide photocatalysts were prepared by the sol-gel method.The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD),transmission electron microscopy (TEM),and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS).Photocatalytic activities of the samples were investigated on the degradation of methyl orange (MO).The effect of the dopants on the electronic structure of TiO2 was studied by the first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT).The orbital hybridization resulted in energy gap narrowing and electronic delocalization in the crystal of doped TiO2.Mobile electrons of varied energetic states could offer enhanced electron transfer,together with optical absorption improvement.The results show that the doping elements of N and S play a cooperative role in the modification of electronic structure,which enhances the photocatalytic performance.The experimentally observed absorption edges of N-doped TiO2,S-doped TiO2,and N,S-codoped TiO2 are 420,413,and 429 nm,respectively,which can be explained by the theoretical calculation results.     

Chang＇E-1 orbiter discovers a lunar nearside volcano： YUTU Mountain

In the day time of the Moon surface, the strong illumination from high altitude and high albedo rate radical craters will introduce the illumination effect on observing the nearby low altitude, low albedo rate and shallow small slop rate area seriously, and even can ＂hide＂ the later area from the light. Based on the lunar global topography model obtained by Chang＇E-1 mission, and by comparing with the lunar gravity model, a volcano named ＂YUTU Mountain＂ has been identified. It is a volcano with diameter of -300 km and height of -2 km located at （14°N, 308°E） in Oceanus ProceUarum. Besides, the DEM of another volcano named ＂GUISHU Mountain＂ in the same area has been improved. This new discovery will benefit the study of lunar magmatism and volcanism evolution in the nearside of the Moon.     

Paleoecological implications of the nitrogen isotope signatures in the sediments amended by Antarctic seal excrements

The nitrogen isotope signatures in the sediments amended by seal excrements, from Fildes Peninsula of King George Islands, Antarctica, were examined for their paleoecological application potential. The contents of total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) and the atomic C/N ratios in the sediments show that the organic carbon and nitrogen are predominantly of marine origin and derived from seal excrements. The remarkably high δ15N values in the sediments may be related to at least two important factors of trophic enrichment and NH3 volatilization, which requires further studies. The large variations in the seal hair abundances and the determinedδ15N values in the sediments signify similar changes of the historical seal populations around the study site. A significant negative correlation between the δ15N values and seal hair abundance was observed, and this suggests that the δ15N values, like the number of seal hairs,can be used as a paleoecological proxy for the historical seal populations. The time-integrated δ15N signatures in the sediments with predominantly animal-derived nitrogen source thus provide a new tool for estimating historical populations of seals and penguins and interpretlng the underlying paleoecological processes.     

The hemocompatibility and the reabsorption function of TiO2 nanotubes biomembranes

A novel high-intensity TiO2 nanotubes array membrane was fabricated via electrochemical anodization of highly pure titanium foil and an open-ended TiO2 nanotubes array membrane was obtained by HF gas etching at the bottom of the nanotubes. Pig tubular epithelial cells (LLC-PK1) and vascular endothelial cells (ECV304) were cultivated on the open-ended TiO2 nanotubes surface through a mixing implantation method and TiO2 nanotubes biomembrane materials with physiological function were successfully produced. Hemocompatibility of glass slides, pure titanium, TiO2 nanotubes without cells and TiO2 nanotubes with culture cells were investigated by the plasma recalcification time method and reabsorption of sodium and potassium were measured by custom-designed devices. The results show that the hemocompatibility of the TiO2 nanotubes array membrane with culture cells was superior to the control group, and the biomembrane has an excellent reabsorption function. This demonstrates that a TiO2 nanotubes array membrane has excellent physiological function and is an ideal candidate material for biological dialysis.     

Automated detection of lunar craters based on object-oriented approach

The object-oriented approach is a powerful method in making classification. With the segmentation of images to objects, many features can be calculated based on the objects so that the targets can be distinguished. However, this method has not been applied to lunar study. In this paper we attempt to apply this method to detecting lunar craters with promising results. Craters are the most obvious fea- tures on the moon and they are important for lunar geologic study. One of the important questions in lunar research is to estimate lunar surface ages by examination of crater density per unit area. Hence, proper detection of lunar craters is necessary. Manual crater identification is inefficient, and a more efficient and effective method is needed. This paper describes an object-oriented method to detect lunar craters using lunar reflectance images. In the method, many objects were first segmented from the image based on size, shape, color, and the weights to every layer. Then the feature of ＂contrast to neighbor objects＂ was selected to identify craters from the lunar image. In the next step, by merging the adjacent objects belonging to the same class, almost every crater can be taken as an independent object except several very big craters in the study area. To remove the crater rays diagnosed as craters, the feature of ＂length/width＂ was further used with suitable parameters to finish recognizing craters. Finally, the result was exported to ArcGIS for manual modification to those big craters and the number of craters was acquired.     

Deployment Reliability Test and Assessment for Landing Gear of Chang' E-3 Probe

Chang＇E-3 probe incorporates four landing gears to assure the soft-landing,which are stowed while launching and deployed after separated from rocket. Deployment reliability is quite crucial for this mission. The deployment reliability test（ DRT） method and assessment method were developed in this paper. Then DRT was conducted and the deployment reliability estimate of Chang＇E-3probe was used to verify the proposed methods.     

Preparation of titanium dioxide from titania-rich slag by molten NaOH method

Preparing titanium dioxide from titania-rich slag (TiO₂ 73wt%) by molten NaOH method has been developed. The effects of temperature and reaction time on the titanium conversion were investigated. The results showed that temperature had significant influence on the titanium conversion as well as the structure of the product. About 92% of titanium in the titania-rich slag could be converted after reacting with NaOH at 500℃ for 1 h. Metatitanic acid was formed through the steps of washing treatment, acid dissolution, and hydrolysis. Well-dispersed spherical titanium dioxide particles with an average size of 0.1-0.4 μm can be obtained by calcination of metatitanic acid. In addition, the content of titanium dioxide in the product is up to 98.6wt%, which can be used as pigments after further treatment of coating and crushing.     

Potential relationships between atmospheric particulate matter transported by winter monsoons and red tides in the East China Sea

Combining numerical diagnosis from atmospheric science with biogeochemical methods,a model of the potential correlation of monsoons with red tide emergence in the East China Sea is constructed.The model is designed based on an in-depth investigation of the time-space relationship of aerosol and red tide events in the East China Sea from 2005 to 2006,and a continuous monitoring of atmospheric particulates at two stations.The study shows that every red tide event investigated has a close relationship with aerosols coming from the northwest (wind direction in winter) along with subsidence flow.The elemental abundance of total suspended particulate in Hangzhou and Tiantai is different from that of soil background levels,indicating atmospheric particulates there are brought in by winter winds.There is a significant correlation between the content of iron and phosphorous in atmospheric particulates,which mainly exist in binding materials between particulates.In addition,the confined absorption of iron and phosphorous by red tides is related to the intensity of sunlight.These results provide new information regarding the mechanism for the high frequency of red tides in the East China Sea.The results also provide a scientific basis for establishing new pathways for pre-warning and forecasting of red tide disasters.     

Image Analysis of Fabric Pilling Based on Light Projection

The objective assessment of fabric pilling based on light projection and image analysis has been exploited recently. The device for capturing the cross-sectional images of the pilled fabrics with light projection is elaborated. The detection of the profile line and integration of the sequential cross-sectional pilled image are discussed. The threshold based on Gaussian model is recommended for pill segmentation. The results show that the installed system is capable of eliminating the interference with pill information from the fabric color and pattern.     

Preparation of Rectorite-TiO2 and Its Application in the Solar Photocatalytic Degradation of Dye Wastewater

A photocatalyst consisting of TiO2 powder and rectorite was prepared and activated utilizing solar light and used for degradation of simulated dye wastewater （methyl solution）. The effects of roasting temperature, the way of adding rectorite, and the amount of the rectorite on the photocatalytic activity have been investigated. The results indicated that rectorite-TiO2 photocatalyst prepared with the right proportional amount of rectorite and titanium dioxide, could effectively degrade the methyl orange solution in sunlight. After reacting in sunlight for 8 hours, the methyl orange decolorization reached 96%. The photocatalytic activity of rectorite-TiO2 was much better than that of TiO2 in sunlight.