Objective Absorbing aerosols, particularly black carbon (BC), exerts significant influence on the Earth's radiation budget by modifying both the amount and vertical distribution of solar radiation. Their climatic effects are especially pronounced in regions characterized by concentrated fossil fuel activities, such as large-scale coal mining areas. However, the spatial and temporal variability of their microphysical and optical properties introduces considerable uncertainty into regional radiative forcing assessments. The Zhundong Coalfield, located in eastern Xinjiang, China, is one such region where BC emissions from coal extraction and associated industrial activity are persistent yet under-characterized from a radiative perspective. This study aims to construct a rapid estimation framework for aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) over this region by integrating multi-band satellite observations with physically based scattering and radiative transfer models. The primary goal is to evaluate how aerosol optical depth (AOD), single scattering albedo (SSA), and particle size influence shortwave ARF at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), bottom of the atmosphere (BOA), and within the atmospheric column (ATM), and how ultraviolet-band data enhances the reliability of this estimation. Methods The research adopts a modular approach comprising aerosol property inversion and radiative transfer modeling. The aerosol inversion is based on a Mie scattering model incorporating a core-shell structure assumption, where BC forms the absorbing core and is coated by non-absorbing substances such as sulfate and nitrate. Satellite-derived aerosol products are used to constrain the model: MODIS provides AOD and SSA at visible wavelengths, while OMI contributes ultraviolet (UV) -band SSA and AOD information. Two experimental configurations are established-one based solely on MODIS data, and another integrating both MODIS and OMI-to assess the role of UV spectral information in constraining aerosol characteristics. Following inversion, the retrieved aerosol size and optical parameters are used as input to the SBDART (Santa Barbara DISORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer) model to simulate instantaneous ARF at TOA, BOA, and ATM under clear-sky conditions. Radiative forcing is calculated as the difference in net shortwave flux with and without aerosols. Multiple linear regression models are then constructed using different combinations of AOD, SSA, and core radius to quantify the relationship between these parameters and simulated ARF. Regression performance is evaluated using R (2) and RMSE statistics across both single-source and combined-source scenarios. Results and Discussions First, the inclusion of OMI UV-band data significantly improves the inversion accuracy of aerosol particle size characteristics. When only MODIS data are used, the retrieved BC core sizes are relatively narrow, mostly centered around 120 nm, and the shell diameters exhibit limited variation. However, when OMI UV observations are incorporated, the core size distribution broadens, capturing particles ranging from 90 to 160 nm, while the shell diameter spans a wider interval of 300?700 nm. This improved resolution stems from the stronger sensitivity of UVs to absorption by fine-mode particles, which enhances the model's ability to distinguish subtle differences in particle morphology. The resulting total particle size distributions-core plus shell-are more consistent with reported field measurements in coal-intensive regions. These results confirm that UV data not only improve inversion detail but also reduce the uncertainty in the wavelength in the representation of aerosol mixing states. Second, the quantitative relationship between optical parameters and ARF demonstrates clear physical consistency across TOA, BOA, and ATM layers. In both MODIS-only and MODIS-OMI configurations, AOD exhibits a strong negative correlation with TOA and BOA radiative forcing (R=-0.77 and -0.78, respectively), indicating a cooling effect due to enhanced scattering and absorption of incoming solar radiation. SSA also shows a strong negative correlation with TOA and BOA forcing (R=-0.78 and -0.62, respectively), suggesting that as the aerosol becomes more scattering-dominant, its net radiative cooling effect intensifies. Conversely, AOD shows weaker but positive correlations with ATM forcing (R=0.43), suggesting an increase in atmospheric heating when aerosol loading or absorption increases. This pattern aligns with physical expectations: absorbing aerosols like BC trap energy in the atmosphere, contributing to vertical energy redistribution. The analysis confirms that SSA has a stronger explanatory power than AOD, emphasizing its role as a key driver of radiative uncertainty forcing. Third, regression model performance improves markedly with the inclusion of SSA and core size as input parameters. Under the MODIS-only scenario, models using AOD alone yield limited explanatory power, withR (2) values of 0.59 (TOA), 0.61 (BOA), and 0.18 (ATM). Adding SSA improves the fits substantially, increasingR (2) to 0.78 (TOA) and 0.67 (BOA), and to 0.21 in the ATM. Incorporating core radius into the model yields additional gains, raisingR (2) in the ATM layer to 0.23 and lowering RMSE values across all layers. In the MODIS-OMI fusion scenario, even though the number of valid observation days decreases significantly (eg, from 2589 to 954 days at the Wucaiwan site), model performance continues to improve. For example,R (2) for ATM forcing increases from 0.18 to 0.29, and RMSE decreases from 2.04 to 1.85. These results suggest that high-spectral-resolution UV data provide greater constraint on aerosol absorption properties, thereby enabling more physically consistent radiative forcing estimates, even with reduced samples. This finding supports the robustness of UV-enhanced satellite inversion strategies in regional ARF modeling. Conclusions This study presents a data-model integration framework for estimating ARF over coal mining regions using multi-source satellite observations and physically based scattering and radiative transfer models. The combination of MODIS visible and OMI ultraviolet aerosol products improves the inversion of absorbing aerosol particle size distributions and enhances the retrieval of SSA, especially under complex mixing conditions. The constructed regression models reveal that SSA exerts a greater influence on radiative forcing than AOD, and that including particle size parameters further strengthens model reliability. Despite a reduction in observational frequency due to OMI's narrower sampling, the incorporation of UV-band information leads to consistently improved model performance across all atmospheric layers, particularly in the atmospheric column. These results highlight the critical role of spectral diversity in satellite remote sensing for accurately characterizing the radiative impacts of absorbing aerosols, and demonstrate the feasibility of applying such approaches to high-emission, data-scarce environments like the Zhundong Coalfield.

The disposal of tailings in a safe and environmentally friendly manner has always been a challenging issue. The microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) technique is used to stabilise tailings sands. MICP is an innovative soil stabilisation technology. However, its field application in tailings sands is limited due to the poor adaptability of non-native urease-producing bacteria (UPB) in different natural environments. In this study, the ultraviolet (UV) mutagenesis technology was used to improve the performance of indigenous UPB, sourced from a hot and humid area of China. Mechanical property tests and microscopic inspections were conducted to assess the feasibility and the effectiveness of the technology. The roles played by the UV-induced UPB in the processes of nucleation and crystal growth were revealed by scanning electron microscopy imaging. The impacts of elements contained in the tailings sands on the morphology of calcium carbonate crystals were studied with Raman spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The precipitation pattern of calcium carbonate and the strength enhancement mechanism of bio-cemented tailings were analysed in detail. The stabilisation method of tailings sands described in this paper provides a new cost-effective approach to mitigating the environmental issues and safety risks associated with the storage of tailings.

The moons of Jupiter and Saturn, such as Europa and Enceladus, are strong candidates for the search for life outside of Earth. Together with the use of direct observational methods, physical and chemical processes that take place on icy moons may be studied on planetary field analogs, that is, on similar reachable locations on Earth. Fieldwork performed on planetary field analogs can test protocols and technology that may be applied on future space missions to extraterrestrial environments. The Arctic is a strong candidate for such studies. This study assesses a spectroscopic protocol for biosignature detection in the Arctic, as a proxy to icy moons. Samples of ice and the water underneath were collected by our team in different locations at and nearby Hudson Bay, Canada, and spectroscopic analysis detected the presence of humic acid in all the samples. On the contrary, biosignatures such as amino acids and beta-carotene may have been present in concentrations below the limit of detection of the equipment used. With proper optimization, it will be possible to implement this simple protocol that relies on lightweight equipment in future space missions to icy moons.

Roadbed engineering in alpine tundra environment is prone to frost heave and thaw settlement, cracking of pavement, uneven settlement, and other challenges under the action of seasonal freeze-thaw cycle. Wicking geotextile has important application value in frost damage control of roadbeds, but solar radiation, especially ultraviolet radiation, is one of the main factors leading to premature failure of wicking geotextile. In this study, different kinds of ultraviolet-resistant wicking fibers were developed by blending modification technology, and the various types of fibers were compared with each other in terms of their physical and mechanical properties, so as to obtain the optimal modified wicking fibers with the content of 2 % UV-1164 + 0.3 % B900 addition. Subsequently, a 20-day accelerated aging test was conducted on modified wicking geotextiles. The inhibitory effect of the modification treatment on the wicking geotextile indicating photo-oxidative aging was characterized by scanning electron microscope, and the effect on the mechanical properties maintenance of the wicking geotextile was characterized by tensile strength and top-breaking strength tests. Finally, a soil column drainage test was designed and carried out, based on which the horizontal hydraulic conductivity rate and 120-h drainage volume of wicking geotextiles before and after the modified treatment were predicted under the aging cycle of 40 d. The test and prediction dates showed that the hydraulic conductivity was deteriorated with the aging time, but the modification treatment could obviously inhibit the deterioration degree. Compared with the control group, the hydraulic conductivity of the modified wicking geotextile increased by about 0.35E-5 g/s, and the drainage capacity increased by 0.76 % at 200 h.

The presence of biodegradable microplastics (BMPs) alongside toxic metals in soil significantly threatens plant health. Current research mainly focuses on the effects of original BMPs. In contrast, the specific impacts of ultraviolet (UV)-aged BMPs and their interaction with Cadmium (Cd) on seed germination and growth are unclear. Therefore, this study incubated aged polylactic acid (PLA) MPs through a UV irradiation aging process and used an indoor hydroponic experiment to systematically investigate the single and combined effects of Cd and BMPs (virgin and aged) on pakchoi (Brassica chinensis L.) germination, photosynthesis, antioxidant systems, and Cd accumulation. The results showed that after 21 days of UV irradiation (UPLA MPs), PLA MPs formed a fractured surface, demonstrating more detrimental effects on pakchoi than virgin ones. UPLA MPs and Cd alone inhibited pakchoi germination, growth, and photosynthesis, while PLA MPs alone promoted these processes. Combined treatment with Cd and UPLA MPs significantly increased oxidative damage and reduced pakchoi root length, chlorophyll, Mg, Mn, and Zn content. Under the combination of Cd and BMPs, PLA MPs could effectively alleviate the toxic effect of Cd on pakchoi. The results unraveled here emphasized that UPLA MPs, especially aged BMPs, could trigger adverse effects on agro-systems with heavy metals. Therefore, the results of this study can provide a new perspective and reference for the ecological risk evaluation of Cd and BMPs pollution in agricultural soils.

Polylactic acid (PLA) is recognized as a promising alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics due to its excellent biodegradability and well-balanced mechanical properties. Nevertheless, the disadvantages of PLA such as flammability in fire, susceptibility to UV light attack, and slow natural degradation rate limit its application and recovery in high-security areas. In this work, a spherical chitosan-based additive DMPC-Al with mirrorsymmetric internal structure was assembled by layer-by-layer electrostatic reactions, resulting in PLA characterized excellent comprehensive performances. When 7 wt% DMPC-Al was added into PLA, the LOI value of the composite PLA/7DMPC-Al was increased to 29.6%, and UL-94 reached V-0 grade without any molten droplets. The peak heat release rate and total heat release rate were reduced by 13.5% and 16.2%, respectively, and the carbon layer was highly self-expanding. In addition, the UPF of PLA/7DMPC-Al was increased to 34.45 from 0.45 of pure PLA, blocking most of the UV light attacks and extending the service life of PLA. Surprisingly, DMPC-Al actually improved the impact toughness of PLA by 38.5% and facilitated PLA to work continuously when drawing large curved shapes by 3D printing. More importantly, the introduction of DMPC-Al changed the sensitivity of PLA to water and provided sufficient energy for microbial growth, thus accelerating the degradation rate of PLA in the soil under abandoned buildings. This work provides a practical and feasible strategy to achieve multifunctionality of degradable plastics.

We employ nighttime observations from the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) ultraviolet (UV) spectrograph onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to investigate the presence of condensed water ice within lunar south pole cold traps. This study incorporates LAMP observations between 2009 and 2016, which more than doubles the number of observations from previous LAMP Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs) studies. In this study, we focus on cold traps within five south polar craters: Faustini, Shoemaker, Haworth, Cabeus, and Amundsen. An unnamed cold trap region adjacent to Haworth and Shoemaker was also investigated. We present On-band (148-162 nm), Edge-band (164-173 nm), and Off-band (175-190 nm) albedo maps at 4-km spatial resolution and far-UV albedo spectra of cold traps at 2-nm spectral resolution. We find Off-band to On-band albedo ratios (the UV wavelength ranges with high and low H2O ice reflectivity, respectively) within cold traps that are consistent with previous PSR studies. Spectral intimate mixture models considering 5 mu m H2O grains and a range of regolith grain sizes (20-74 mu m) with porosities between 0.3 and 0.75 yields abundances of similar to 0.9-4.9 wt.%, where increasing the range of H2O and regolith grain sizes may increase the range of water abundance. We further find generally lower albedos within the cold trap regions than at the surrounding non-cold trap regions across all wavelengths, consistent with increased regolith porosity within cold traps as suggested by Gladstone et al. (2012), .

The PLanetary extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (PLUS) is a project funded by the Italian Space Agency focused on the development of an extreme (EUV) and far-ultraviolet (FUV) high-performance spectrograph, which adopts a dual channel optical scheme. Thanks to an optimized layout based on the use of Variable Line Space (VLS) gratings in an off-Rowland configuration, high spectral and spatial resolution are achieved. The efficiency improvement is obtained by the optimization of the coatings on the optical components. Improved detection limit, shorter observations integration time and unprecedented performance in terms of dynamic range will be achieved by the use of high resolution/dynamic range solar blind photon counting detectors. The photon counting detectors will be based on a Micro-Channel Plate (MCP) coupled with an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) read out system.

Permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) at the lunar poles are of unique interest for science and exploration due to their low surface temperatures and potential for volatile sequestration. While not directly illuminated by the Sun, PSRs are exposed to faint sources of radiation such as starlight, Lyman alpha photons from the interplanetary medium, and sunlight scattered from the surrounding topography. These illumination sources are significant as they contribute to the thermal energy budget of PSRs, and also provide a photon source with which to observe areas otherwise obscured by shadow. In this work, we survey the illumination conditions from the aforementioned sources within northern and southern hemisphere PSRs at far ultraviolet (FUV), visible (vis) and infrared (IR) wavelengths. With respect to magnitude, it is shown that scattered sunlight is the brightest radiation source to reach the PSRs in the visible and IR spectral regimes. As well, we show that scattered sunlight contributes a considerable supply of FUV photons, and may exceed the interplanetary medium/starlight brightness in many PSR craters due to the temporal and spatial variance of scattered sunlight. This finding suggests a higher rate of photodesorption and lower adsorption residence times for water molecules than previously suggested, and, furthermore, indicates that this rate fluctuates diurnally, seasonally and geographically owing to the variability of the incoming solar flux. Large differences in the received solar energy are found between craters, with crater latitude and size being among the modulating influences. Within individual craters, strong spatial heterogeneities in scattered solar flux are found, with equator-facing PSR slopes receiving 40%-60% of the total energy of slopes oriented toward the pole. Finally, we show that the radiation available is sufficient to detect water ice using vis/FUV or vis/IR filter pairings, and such observations can be made with signal to noise > 10 with an FUV-sensitive camera; however, with more scattered solar photons available for IR imaging, higher signal to noise ratios can be attained with a vis/IR filter pairing.

We calculated the cross sections of photolysis of OH, LiO, NaO, KO, HCl, LiCl, NaCl, KCl, HF, LiF, NaF, and KF molecules using quantum chemistry methods. The maximal values for photolysis cross sections of alkali metal monoxides are on the order of 10(-18) cm(2). The lifetimes of photolysis for quiet Sun at 1 astronomical unit are estimated as 2.0 x 10(5), 28, 5, 14, 2.1 x 10(5), 225, 42, 52, 2 x 10(6), 35 400, 486, and 30 400 s for OH, LiO, NaO, KO, HCl, LiCl, NaCl, KCl, HF, LiF, NaF, and KF, respectively. We performed a comparison between values of photolysis lifetimes obtained in this work and in previous studies. Based on such a comparison, our estimations of photolysis lifetimes of OH, HCl, and HF have an accuracy of about a factor of 2. We determined typical kinetic energies of main peaks of photolysis-generated metal atoms. Impact-produced LiO, NaO, KO, NaCl, and KCl molecules are destroyed in the lunar and Hermean exospheres almost completely during the first ballistic flight, while other considered molecules are more stable against destruction by photolysis.