Emma J Barton

• PhD
• Researcher at UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Accurate rotation-vibration line lists are calculated for silicon monoxide. Line lists are presented for the main isotopologue, $^{28}$Si$^{16}$O, and for four monosubsituted isotopologues ($^{29}$Si$^{16}$O, $^{30}$Si$^{16}$O, $^{28}$Si$^{18}$O and $^{28}$Si$^{17}$O), in their ground electronic states. These line lists are suitable for high temper...

Involving students in state-of-the-art research from an early age eliminates the idea that science is only for the scientists and empowers young people to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects. It is also a great opportunity to dispel harmful stereotypes about who is suitable for STEM careers, while leaving students fee...

This article presents a land–atmosphere case‐study for a single day during monsoon onset, incorporating data from a research aircraft, satellite products and model outputs. The unique aircraft observations reveal temperature and humidity contrasts of up to 5 K and 4 g/kg in the planetary boundary layer induced by spatial variations in soil moisture...

Convection over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has been linked to heavy rain and flooding in downstream parts of China. Understanding processes which influence the development of convection on the TP could contribute to better forecasting of these extreme events. TP scale (~1000 km) soil moisture gradients have been shown to influence formation of convec...

Plain Language Summary Movements of tropical air are driven by interactions between large, continental–scale circulations and localized deep convection — cells of ascending moist air reaching to the tropopause. These cells can aggregate to form Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCSs), long–lived thunderstorm clusters with large cold cloud shields that...

Thermal processes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) influence atmospheric conditions on regional- and global-scales. Given this, previous work has shown that soil moisture-driven surface flux variations feed back onto the atmosphere. Whilst soil moisture is a source of atmospheric predictability, no study has evaluated soil moisture-atmosphere coupling o...

The representation of land–atmosphere coupling in forecast models can significantly impact weather prediction. A previous case study in Northern India incorporating both model and observational data identified atmospheric biases in a high-resolution forecast linked to soil moisture that impacted the representation of the monsoon trough, an importan...

Significance Tropical deforestation tends to increase regional air temperatures, but its impacts on rainfall are more complex. The conventional picture, based largely on studies over Amazonia, is that storm frequency can increase over small, deforested areas but is reduced when the landscape is predominantly deforested. This study examines Southern...

Multi-year analysis of storm formation and surface wetness conditions based on satellite observations.

This case-study concerns a low-level transect of a research flight on 30 June 2016 (during monsoon onset). The aim of the flight was to sample the planetary boundary layer (PBL) above areas of contrasting land use and rainfall history, particularly irrigated and non-irrigated regions. The aircraft took measurements at a height of 190m above ground...

Involving students in state-of-the-art research from an early age eliminates the idea that science is only for the scientists and empowers young people to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects. It is also a great opportunity to dispel harmful stereotypes about who is suitable for STEM careers, while leaving students fee...

We describe the recent updates to the ExoMol database regarding the molecular spectral line shapes. ExoMol provides comprehensive molecular line lists with a special emphasis on the applications involving characterization of atmospheres of exoplanets and cool stars. Among important requirements of such applications are (i) the broadening parameters...

An ammonia absorption spectrum recorded at room temperature in the region 8800–10,400 cm⁻¹ is analysed using a variational line list, BYTe, and ground state energies determined using the MARVEL procedure. BYTe is used as a starting point to initialise assignments by combination differences and the method of branches. Assignments are presented for t...

We describe the recent updates to the ExoMol database regarding the molecular spectral line shapes. ExoMol provides comprehensive molecular line lists with a special emphasis on the applications involving characterization of hot atmospheres such as those found in exoplanets and cool stars. Among important requirements of such applications are (i) t...

In a variety of astronomical objects including gas giant (exo-)planets, brown dwarfs and cool stars, molecular hydrogen and helium are the major line broadeners. However, there is currently no systematic source for these parameters, particularly at the elevated temperatures encountered in many of these objects. The ExoMol project provides comprehen...

High-resolution absorption spectra of \NH\ in the region 2100 - 5500 \cm\ at 1027 $^{\circ}$C and atmospheric pressure (1045 $\pm$ 3 mbar) are measured. An \NH\ concentration of 10\% in volume fraction is used in the measurements. Spectra are recorded in a high-temperature gas-flow cell using a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer at a no...

High-resolution absorption spectra of NH3 in the region 2100 - 5500 cm⁻¹ at 1027 °C and approximately atmospheric pressure (1045±3 mbar) are measured. An NH3 concentration of 10% in volume fraction is used in the measurements. Spectra are recorded in a high-temperature gas-flow cell using a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer at a nomina...

Many atmospheres (cool stars, brown dwarfs, giant planets, extrasolar planets) are predominately composed of molecular hydrogen and helium. H$_2{}^{16}$O is one of the best measured molecules in extrasolar planetary atmospheres to date and a major compound in the atmospheres of brown-dwarfs and oxygen-rich cool stars, yet the scope of experimental...

Many atmospheres (cool stars, brown dwarfs, giant planets, extrasolar planets) are predominately composed of molecular hydrogen and helium. H$_2{}^{16}$O is one of the best measured molecules in extrasolar planetary atmospheres to date and a major compound in the atmospheres of brown-dwarfs and oxygen-rich cool stars, yet the scope of experimental...

This research is a composite of projects which have individually contributed new results to their respective subjects, whilst collectively contributing to the updating of the ExoMol database to include pressure broadening. This research also represents a successful collaboration between academia and industry. A combination of empirical and ab initi...

A Fourier Transform (FT) absorption spectrum of room temperature NH3 in the region 7400 - 8600 cm-1 is analysed using a variational line list and ground state energies determined using the MARVEL procedure. The spectrum was measured by Dr Catherine de Bergh in 1980 and is available from the Kitt Peak data center. The centers and intensities of 8468...

A Fourier Transform (FT) absorption spectrum of room temperature ammonia in the region 7400 - 8600 wavenumbers is analysed using a variational line list and ground state energies determined using the MARVEL procedure. The spectrum was measured by Dr Catherine de Bergh in 1980 and is available from the Kitt Peak data center. The centers and intensit...

We report the analysis of two new spectroscopic observations of the super-Earth 55 Cancri e, in the near infrared, obtained with the WFC3 camera onboard the HST. 55 Cancri e orbits so close to its parent star, that temperatures much higher than 2000 K are expected on its surface. Given the brightness of 55 Cancri, the observations were obtained in...

The ExoMol database (www.exomol.com) provides extensive line lists of molecular transitions which are valid over extended temperatures ranges. The status of the current release of the database is reviewed and a new data structure is specified. This structure augments the provision of energy levels (and hence transition frequencies) and Einstein $A$...

The ExoMol database (www.exomol.com) provides extensive line lists of molecular transitions which are valid over extended temperatures ranges. The status of the current release of the database is reviewed and a new data structure is specified. This structure augments the provision of energy levels (and hence transition frequencies) and Einstein $A$...

The discovery of almost 2000 exoplanets has revealed an unexpectedly diverse planet population. Observations to date have shown that our Solar System is certainly not representative of the general population of planets in our Milky Way. The key science questions that urgently need addressing are therefore: What are exoplanets made of? Why are plane...

The discovery of almost two thousand exoplanets has revealed an unexpectedly diverse planet population. We see gas giants in few-day orbits, whole multi-planet systems within the orbit of Mercury, and new populations of planets with masses between that of the Earth and Neptune—all unknown in the Solar System. Observations to date have shown that ou...

Tau-REx (Tau Retrieval of Exoplanets) is a novel, fully Bayesian atmospheric retrieval code custom built for extrasolar atmospheres. In Waldmann et al. (2015) the transmission spectroscopic case was introduced, here we present the emission spectroscopy spectral retrieval for the Tau-REx framework. Compared to transmission spectroscopy, the emission...

High-resolution absorption spectra of NH3 in the region 500–2100 cm−1 at temperatures up to 1027 °C and approximately atmospheric pressure (1013±20 mbar) are measured. NH3 concentrations of 1000 ppm, 0.5% and 1% in volume fraction were used in the measurements. Spectra are recorded in high temperature gas flow cells using a Fourier Transform Infrar...

Comprehensive vibration–rotation line lists for eight isotopologues of carbon monosulphide (CS; 12C32S, 12C33S, 12C34S, 12C36S, 13C32S, 13C33S, 13C34S, 13C36S) in their ground electronic states are calculated. These line lists are suitable for temperatures up to 3000 K. A spectroscopically-determined potential energy curve (PEC) and dipole moment c...

Spectroscopy of exoplanetary atmospheres has become a well established method for the characterisation of extrasolar planets. We here present a novel inverse retrieval code for exoplanetary atmospheres. T-REx (Tau Retrieval for Exoplanets) is a line-by-line radiative transfer fully Bayesian retrieval framework. T-REx includes the following features...

Accurate rotation–vibration line lists for two molecules, NaCl and KCl, in their ground electronic states are presented. These line lists are suitable for temperatures relevant to exoplanetary atmospheres and cool stars (up to 3000 K). Isotopologues 23Na35Cl, 23Na37Cl, 39K35Cl, 39K37Cl, 41K35Cl and 41K37Cl are considered. Laboratory data were used...