The availability of global high-resolution land cover maps provides promising a priori knowledge for characterizing subpixel heterogeneity and improving predictions of directional reflectance of coarse-resolution pixels. Due to mutual shadowing and sheltering effects between the adjacent forest and cropland patches, the spectral nonlinear mixing of patchy ecotones is significant, especially when the sun illuminates the ecotone from the forest side with high solar zenith angle. The spectral linear mixture (SLM) approach leads to overestimation of the bidirectional reflectance factor (BRF) in the red band in the principal plane (PP), with a maximum absolute error (MAE) of 0.0063 and a maximum relative error (MRE) of 52.5%, and to underestimation in the near-infrared band in PP with an MAE of 0.0940 and an MRE of 14.5%. In a scenario with randomly distributed boundary orientations, the overestimation of SLM increases with the degree of fragmentation and the view zenith angle. We propose a Radiative Transfer model for patchy ECotones (RTEC). which improves R-2 from 0.61 to 0.94 in the red band of Landsat-8 directional reflectance at the validation site. The RTEC model provides an efficient and analytical approach for directional reflectance predictions over heterogeneous patchy landscapes at coarse resolution and will be used for biophysical parameter retrievals [e.g., the leaf area index (LAI)] in future applications.

Leaf optical spectra reflect the combination of leaf biochemical, morphological and physiological properties, and play an important role in many ecological and Earth system processes. Radiative transfer models are widely used to simulate leaf spectra by quantifying photon transfer processes of reflection, transmission and absorption within a plant leaf. Recent advances in spectral invariants theory offer a unique and efficient approach for modeling the canopy-scale radiative transfer processes, but remain underexplored for applications at the leaf scale. In this study, we developed a leaf-scale optical property model based on the spectrally invariant properties (leaf-SIP) of plant leaves. Similar to the canopy-scale model, the leaf-SIP model decouples leaf-scale radiative transfer process into two parts: wavelength-dependent contribution from leaf chemical components and wavelength-independent contribution from leaf structures, described by two spectrally invariant parameters (i.e., a photon recollision probability p and a scattering asymmetry parameter q). We implemented the leaf-SIP model by parameterizing p and q with a measurable leaf morphological trait, the leaf mass per area (LMA). We evaluated the performance of the leaf-SIP model with two in situ datasets (i.e., LOPEX and ANGERS) and the widely used PROSPECT leaf optical model. The results show that the leaf spectra simulated by the leaf-SIP model agreed well with in situ datasets and the simulations of the PROSPECT model, with a small root mean squared error (RMSE), bias, and high coefficients of determination (R-2) of 0.026, 0.035, 0.95 and 0.037, 0.049, 0.91 for leaf reflectance and leaf transmittance, respectively. Our results also show that the leaf-SIP model can be used with measured leaf spectra to accurately estimate several key leaf functional traits, such as the leaf chlorophyll content, equivalent water thickness, and LMA. The leaf-SIP model provides an efficient and physical way of accurately simulating leaf spectra and retrieving key leaf functional traits from hyperspectral measurements.

Experiments accessing extreme conditions at x-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) involve rapidly evolving conditions of temperature. Here, we report time-resolved, direct measurements of temperature using spectral streaked optical pyrometry of x-ray and optical laser-heated states at the High Energy Density instrument of the European XFEL. This collection of typical experiments, coupled with numerical models, outlines the reliability, precision, and meaning of time dependent temperature measurements using optical emission at XFEL sources. Dynamic temperatures above 1500 K are measured continuously from spectrally- and temporally-resolved thermal emission at 450-850 nm, with time resolution down to 10-100 ns for 1-200 mu s streak camera windows, using single shot and integrated modes. Targets include zero-pressure foils free-standing in air and in vacuo, and high-pressure samples compressed in diamond anvil cell multi-layer targets. Radiation sources used are 20-fs hard x-ray laser pulses at 17.8 keV, in single pulses or 2.26MHz pulse trains of up to 30 pulses, and 250-ns infrared laser single pulses. A range of further possibilities for optical measurements of visible light in x-ray laser experiments using streak optical spectroscopy are also explored, including for the study of x-ray induced optical fluorescence, which often appears as background in thermal radiation measurements. We establish several scenarios where combined emissions from multiple sources are observed and discuss their interpretation. Challenges posed by using x-ray lasers as non-invasive probes of the sample state are addressed. (c) 2023 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0142196

The chemical interaction of Sn with H2 by X-ray diffraction methods at pressures of 180-210GPa is studied. A previously unknown tetrahydride SnH4 with a cubic structure (fcc) exhibiting superconducting properties below TC = 72 K is obtained; the formation of a high molecular C2/m-SnH14 superhydride and several lower hydrides, fcc SnH2 , and C2-Sn12 H18 , is also detected. The temperature dependence of critical current density JC (T) in SnH4 yields the superconducting gap 2Delta(0)= 21.6 meV at 180GPa. SnH4 has unusual behavior in strong magnetic fields: B,T-linear dependences of magnetoresistance and the upper critical magnetic field BC2 (T) (TC - T). The latter contradicts the Wertheimer-Helfand-Hohenberg model developed for conventional superconductors. Along with this, the temperature dependence of electrical resistance of fcc SnH4 in non-superconducting state exhibits a deviation from what is expected for phonon-mediated scattering described by the Bloch-Gruneisen model and is beyond the framework of the Fermi liquid theory. Such anomalies occur for many superhydrides, making them much closer to cuprates than previously believed.

Young mafic lavas from the East African Western Rift record melting of subcontinental lithospheric mantle that was metasomatically modified by multiple tectonic events. We report new isotope data from monogenetic cinder cones near Bufumbira, Uganda, in the Virunga Volcanic Field: Sr-87/Sr-86 = 0.7059-0.7079, e(Nd) = -6.5 to -1.3, e(Hf) = -6.3 to +0.9, Pb-208/Pb-204 = 40.1-40.7, Pb-207/Pb-204 = 15.68-15.75, and Pb-206/Pb-204 = 19.27-19.45. Olivine phenocrysts from the Bufumbira lavas have He-3/He-4 = 6.0-7.4 R-A. The isotopic data, in conjunction with major and trace element systematics, indicate that primitive Bufumbira magmas are derived from two different metasomatized lithospheric source domains. Melts generated by lower degrees of melting record greater contributions from similar to 1 to 2 Ga isotopically enriched garnet-amphibole-phlogopite pyroxenite veins within the lithosphere. As melting progresses, these vein melts become increasingly diluted by melts that originate near the lithosphere/asthenosphere boundary, shifting the isotopic compositions toward the common lithospheric mantle (CLM) proposed by Furman and Graham (1999, ). This similar to 450-500 Ma source domain appears to underlie all Western Rift volcanic provinces and is characterized by Sr-87/Sr-86 similar to 0.705, e(Nd) similar to 0, e(Hf) similar to +1 to +3, Pb-206/Pb-204 similar to 19.0-19.2, Pb-208/Pb-204 similar to 39.7, and He-3/He-4 similar to 7 R-A. Basal portions of the dense subcontinental lithospheric mantle may become gravitationally unstable and founder into underlying warmer asthenosphere, exposing surfaces where melting of locally heterogeneous veins produces small-volume, alkaline mafic melts. Mafic lavas from all Western Rift volcanic provinces record mixing between the CLM and locally variable metasomatized source domains, suggesting this style of melt generation is fundamental to the development of magma-poor rifts.

Super-Earths span a wide range of bulk densities, indicating a diversity in interior conditions beyond that seen in the solar system. In particular, an emerging population of low-density super-Earths may be explained by volatile-rich interiors. Among these, low-density lava worlds have dayside temperatures that are high enough to evaporate their surfaces, providing a unique opportunity to probe their interior compositions and test for the presence of volatiles. In this work, we investigate the atmospheric observability of low-density lava worlds. We use a radiative-convective model to explore the atmospheric structures and emission spectra of these planets, focusing on three case studies with high observability metrics and substellar temperatures spanning & SIM;1900-2800 K: HD 86226 c, HD 3167 b, and 55 Cnc e. Given the possibility of mixed volatile and silicate interior compositions for these planets, we consider a range of mixed volatile and rock-vapor atmospheric compositions. This includes a range of volatile fractions and three volatile compositions: water-rich (100% H2O), water with CO2 (80% H2O+20% CO2), and a desiccated O-rich scenario (67% O-2+33% CO2). We find that spectral features due to H2O, CO2, SiO, and SiO2 are present in the infrared emission spectra as either emission or absorption features, depending on dayside temperature, volatile fraction, and volatile composition. We further simulate JWST secondary-eclipse observations for each of the three case studies, finding that H2O and/or CO2 could be detected with as few as & SIM;five eclipses. Detecting volatiles in these atmospheres would provide crucial independent evidence that volatile-rich interiors exist among the super-Earth population.

The maize female gametophyte contains four cell types: two synergids, an egg cell, a central cell, and a variable number of antipodal cells. In maize, these cells are produced after three rounds of free-nuclear divisions followed by cellularization, differentiation, and proliferation of the antipodal cells. Cellularization of the eight-nucleate syncytium produces seven cells with two polar nuclei in the central cell. Nuclear localization is tightly controlled in the embryo sac. This leads to precise allocation of the nuclei into the cells upon cellularization. Nuclear positioning within the syncytium is highly correlated with their identity after cellularization. Two mutants are described with extra polar nuclei, abnormal antipodal cell morphology, and reduced antipodal cell number, as well as frequent loss of antipodal cell marker expression. Mutations in one of these genes, indeterminate gametophyte2 encoding a MICROTUBULE ASSOCIATED PROTEIN65-3 homolog, shows a requirement for MAP65-3 in cellularization of the syncytial embryo sac as well as for normal seed development. The timing of the effects of ig2 suggests that the identity of the nuclei in the syncytial female gametophyte can be changed very late before cellularization.