Papers by jonathan merrison
The Future and Sustainability of Transnational Access in Europlanet Research Infrastructure
<p>The European Commission (EC) is currently formulating their vision for future re... more <p>The European Commission (EC) is currently formulating their vision for future research infrastructures (RIs) and how they should deliver improved transnational access (TNA) for the broad scientific and industrial community. There is a major emphasis on ensuring RIs are self-governing and sustainable. Many of the larger, often government supported, RIs will operate as European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs). ERICs are generally established around large national research facilities. The Europlanet Society has instead chosen to be a AISBL (International Non-Profit Organization) based in Belgium ensuring control by the scientific community. Upon granting of the AISBL status, expected later in 2022, the Europlanet Society will be in position to lead or co-operate in any future RI initiatives.</p> <p>Based on a series of briefings by the EC, it is predicted that existing established RIs such as Europlanet will be expected to collaborate within and across disciplines to offer a wider range of transnational access. For Europlanet this will mean collaboration within the Astronomy-AstroChemistry communities Opticon, RadioNet, ChETEC, etc. In addition, future TNA programmes will be expected to involve:</p> <ul> <li>more diverse facilities;</li> <li>greater interaction with participation by industry;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>greater globalisation with an emphasis on Africa and Asia;</li> <li>more active participation from the under-represented European states.</li> <li>reduced environmental impact;</li> </ul> <p>We believe that Europlanet is in a strong position to achieve many of these requirements. The next call for modified RIs that provide transnational access is expected to be launched in astronomy-space realm at the end of 2022, for calls in 2023 and 2024. It is therefore necessary to start to formulate ideas for a future TNA programme. The presentation at EPSC will give a brief review of the current status of the Europlanet 2024 RI, and is designed to initiate and stimulate discussion within the planetary community as to their wishes for future TNA facilities, specifically in light of ESA goals to return to the Moon and an increased focus on Exoplanetary science.</p>
Open Astronomy, 2020
This work applies a previously suggested model of gravitational field propagation to various plan... more This work applies a previously suggested model of gravitational field propagation to various planetary bodies within the solar system. Primarily the goal has been to critically test the validity of this model by identifying observations which are in direct conflict with it. Specifically this model predicts a Doppler shift in gravitational acceleration (gD). Applying the model to the planets and the Sun gD acts to increase planetary spin, opposing various sources of drag. The model is seen not to be in conflict with a wide variety of observed parameters which have been treated here and is shown to quantitatively account for several observed phenomena previously thought to be unrelated and which have been di˚cult to explain conventionally. These phenomena include the internal heat generation and magnetospheric generation within the gas giants as well as super rotation which seen in most planetary atmospheres as well as the Sun as differential rotation. This model for the first time pr...
This unique and recently improved planetary simulation facility is capable of re-creating extreme... more This unique and recently improved planetary simulation facility is capable of re-creating extreme terrestrial, Martian and other planetary environments. It is supported by EU activities including Europlanet 2020 RI here the latest research and networking activities will be presented. This facility is also used as a test facility by ESA for the forthcoming ExoMars 2020 mission. Specifically it is capable of recreating the key physical parameters such as temperature, pressure (gas composition), wind flow and importantly the suspension/transport of dust, sand or ice particulates. This facility is available both to the scientific and Industrial communities. 1. Europlanet Transnational Access This environmental simulator facility is utilized for a broad range of research programs including; the study of other planets (such as Mars), for recreating extreme terrestrial environments, or in specific investigations involving aerosols and other forms of Aeolian particulate transport. The facil...
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2018
Planetary and Space Science, 2008
Regolith and dust cover the surfaces of the Solar Systems solid bodies, and thus constitute the v... more Regolith and dust cover the surfaces of the Solar Systems solid bodies, and thus constitute the visible surface of these objects. The topmost layers also interact with space or the atmosphere in the case of Mars, Venus and Titan. Surface probes have been proposed, studied and flown to some of these worlds. Landers and some of the mechanisms they carry, e.g. sampling devices, drills and subsurface probes (''moles'') will interact with the porous surface layer. The absence of true extraterrestrial test materials in ample quantities restricts experiments to the use of soil or regolith analogue materials. Several standardized soil simulants have been developed and produced and are commonly used for a variety of laboratory experiments. In this paper we intend to give an overview of some of the most important soil simulants, and describe experiments (penetrometry, thermal conductivity, aeolian transport, goniometry, spectroscopy and exobiology) made in various European laboratory facilities.
Physical Review A, 1999
The cross sections for double ionization and the ratios of double to single ionization, including... more The cross sections for double ionization and the ratios of double to single ionization, including Ps formation for Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe are presented from threshold to 100 eV. Within the energy region 6.8 eV below the second ionization potential, i.e., the second Ore gap, we find Ne to have a double-ionization cross section indistinguishable from zero, which is consistent with prior measurements. However, the total double-ionization cross sections for Ar, Kr, and Xe just below the thresholds for direct double ionization are around 7-24 % of the maximum cross-section value for each atom, all of which are of the order of 10 Ϫ21 m 2 and occur around 70-90 eV. In contrast to what has previously been found for He and Ne, this is direct evidence of a significant amount of transfer ionization for the three heavier noble gases in the second Ore gap, which is consistent with previous measurements for Ar and Xe. ͓S1050-2947͑99͒00310-8͔
Pharmaceutical Research, 2010
Purpose This work describes the production and application of an aerosolised formulation of chito... more Purpose This work describes the production and application of an aerosolised formulation of chitosan nanoparticles for improved pulmonary siRNA delivery and gene silencing in mice. Methods Aerosolised chitosan/siRNA nanoparticles were pneumatically formed using a nebulising catheter and sized by laser diffraction. In vitro silencing of aerosolised and non-aerosolised formulations was evaluated in an EGFP endogenous-expressing H1299 cell line by flow cytometry. Non-invasive intratracheal insertion of the catheter was used to study nanoparticle deposition by histological detection of Cy3-labeled siRNA and gene silencing in transgenic EGFP mouse lungs using a flow cytometric method. Results Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated minimal alteration in gene silencing efficiency before (68%) and after (62%) aerosolisation in EGFP-expressing H1299 cells. Intratracheal catheter administration in mice resulted in nanoparticle deposition throughout the entire lung in both alveoli and bronchiolar regions using low amounts of siRNA. Transgenic EGFP mice dosed with the aerosolised nanoparticle formulation showed significant EGFP gene silencing (68% reduction compared to mismatch group). Conclusions This work provides a technology platform for effective pulmonary delivery and gene silencing of RNAi therapeutics with potential use in preclinical studies of respiratory disease treatment. KEY WORDS aerosol. chitosan. nanoparticles. pulmonary gene silencing. RNA interference. siRNA E.
The dust on the ring shows an absorption spectrum similar to the spectrum of the reddish bright s... more The dust on the ring shows an absorption spectrum similar to the spectrum of the reddish bright soil on Mars. The spectrum of the area outside the magnet
IFA Aarhus University operates a unique environmental simulation facility capable of recreating e... more IFA Aarhus University operates a unique environmental simulation facility capable of recreating extreme terrestrial and other planetary environments. It is supported by ESA and EU activities. Specifically it is capable of recreating the key physical parameters such as temperature, pressure (composition), wind flow and importantly the suspension/transport of dust or sand particulates. This facility is also available to the scientific community for collaborative research. Recent research and testing/calibration activities will be presented.
Dust Loading and Pressure Drop of Fibrous Filters for Atmospheric In-Situ Resource Utilisation on Mars 2020
European Planetary Science Congress, Sep 1, 2018
Martian dust simulation facility for solar cells, PR-March 2008
Hyperfine Interactions, 2003
The rare occurrence of magnetic soil in Denmark is normally explained by the hypothesis that the ... more The rare occurrence of magnetic soil in Denmark is normally explained by the hypothesis that the site has been burned. However, at some sites formation by means of organic processes has been suggested. In this contribution we present results of combined Mössbauer transmission and conversion electron spectroscopies in order to seek an answer to the question of the origin of magnetic soil in Denmark. It turns out that the sample preparation is of extreme importance, and we will document what precautions have to be taken in order to get meaningful results. When these issues are understood, and taken into consideration, Mössbauer spectroscopy seems to be a promising tool to gain insight in soil forming processes.
PoWAR: a portable wind tunnel facility for studying in situ resuspension of volcanic ash
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, Dec 1, 2019
Magnetic Telltale for Measuring Winds on Mars
Eighth International Conference on Mars, Jul 1, 2014
Aeolian Transport on Mars
European Planetary Science Congress 2006, 2006
There lacks a physical description of the observed wind induced features on Mars, specifically th... more There lacks a physical description of the observed wind induced features on Mars, specifically the apparently inactive Aeolian sand forms despite the abundant global transport of dust through the atmosphere. This is at odds with conventional entrainment processes. Recent studies of grain detachment thresholds in a Mars simulation wind tunnel facility support a cyclic process in which low mass density dust aggregates are entrained and undergo break-up. During this process dust has been seen to become highly electrified causing the reformation of dust aggregates. Instrumentation is now being developed at this wind tunnel facility to quantify dust electrification, deposition, detachment and suspension processes with a view to participating in forthcoming ESA and NASA missions to Mars. This work impacts the study of the near surface environment and history of Mars and also, importantly, the properties and circulation of atmospheric dust (aerosol).
CO2 ice morphologies under Martian conditions
European Planetary Science Congress, Sep 1, 2018
World Meteorological Organization –Instruments and Observing Methods Report No. 109, “Traceability of ground-based meteorological surface temperature measurements”
In the contest of the European MeteoMet project, a rigorous metrological approach is applied to m... more In the contest of the European MeteoMet project, a rigorous metrological approach is applied to measurements of atmospheric parameters such as temperature, pressure, humidity and airspeed in the atmosphere. This approach is addressed to both the study of new instruments and the definition of calibration procedures through the development of new dedicated devices. This work describes how meteorological data can be made traceable to national standards with an associated Type B uncertainty budget to be added to the usual Type A. Type B uncertainty will be investigated as contributions from instrument capabilities and resolutions, calibration procedure adopted, inclusion of variance and covariance matrixes for the mutual influence of other quantities, such as pressure, humidity, solar irradiance and wind speed on the temperature values. A focus on the solar radiation protection shields quality and ageing is included, as direct influence on the temperature readings of weather stations. T...
Laboratory study of volcanic ash electrification
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Papers by jonathan merrison