The justification for doing the work presented in this paper lies in the recent and disturbing rumours regarding the reflectivity of the current SCIAMACHY Level 1b product. The reflectivity was claimed to show an overall 20-percent loss in magnitude compared to GOME. We will show that the reported discrepancy in the reflectivity is indeed not a fictional one, but that it is certainly not caused...

In recent years there has been much discussion of the difference between inequality and polarisation. The vast literature on inequality is held to miss out key features of distributional change, which are better described as changes in polarisation. Axioms have been proposed which capture some of these differences, and measures of polarisation, as distinct from inequality, have been suggested. ...

We have used the University of Tasmania Mt Pleasant 26-m radio telescope to investigate the polarisation characteristics of a sample of strong 6.7GHz methanol masers, the first spectral line polarisation observations to be undertaken with this instrument. As part of this process we have developed a new technique for calibrating linear polarisation spectral line observations. This calibration me...

We present the rst imaging circular polarimetry of the Orion Molecular Cloud, OMC-1. The observations, taken in the J , H , K n and nbL bands, reveal a complex pattern of circular polarisation. Globally, there is a background circular polarisation of the order of 2 percent in the K n band, conforming to the typical quadrupolar patterns that have been observed in other outtow sources. Overlaying...

This study presents an analytical method for extracting the constitutive parameters of an isotropic two-dimensional magneto-dielectric thin cylinder (small radius compared with the wavelength). The method is based on the scattered far field information to a plane wave illumination. Three variations of the method are presented. First, the complex monostatic scattered fields of two orthogonal pol...

Several new lactic acid derivatives containing the keto linkage group far from the chiral part and short alkyl chains have been synthesized and characterised by polarising optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, as well as electro-optic and dielectric spectroscopy. The materials possess a self-assembling behaviour on the nanoscale level as they form polar smectic liquid crystalli...

Deterioration of the underground power cables insulation has been established to be caused by electrical, thermal and environmental stresses. With the degradation of dielectric strength of the insulation, the underground cables will not be able to function optimally or as planned. As a supplement to the existing dissipation factor and other conventional cable diagnostic measurements, the Decay ...

ABSTRACT. A numerical method was used to analyse the interaction of L-band microwaves with pine (Pinus merkusii) trunk. This method approximated tree trunk as an infinite length of two layers of cylindrical dielectric media. These layers are xylem and heartwood. Horizontal polarisation (transverse magnetic mode) of the scattered wave was derived in order to determine the relationship between tr...

This paper starts with a systematic benchmark test of the three commercialised dielectric diagnostic methods RVM (recovery voltage method), PDC (polarisation and depolarisation currents) and FDS (frequency domain spectroscopy), performed on a large transformer model. Starting from the explored strengths and weaknesses a more sophisticated instrument with corresponding software was developed. Th...

One of the most important features of the interface between an oxide and a metal is the sharp change in dielectric constant between the two materials. This suggests that the stabilisation of charges (lattice ions and defect centres) in the non-metal by the polarisation of the metal may contribute strongly to the interfacial adhesion. This effect can be treated in classical electrostatics by the...