Optical spectroscopy and modeling are applied to four independent problems related to the structure and evolution of galaxies. The problems cover a broad range of look-back time and galaxy mass. Integral field spectroscopy with low surface brightness sensitivity is the tool employed to advance our understanding of the distribution, interplay, and evolution of the stars, dark matter, and gas. First, I review development and commissioning work done on the VIRUS-P instrument. I then present a large sample of galaxies over redshifts 1.9<z<3.8 selected solely through their Lyman-alpha flux. This work is done as a pilot survey to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy eXperiment (HETDEX). I create a redshift catalog of 397 galaxies discovered over 169 square arcsecs taken over 113 nights. Second, I study a high redshift (z=3.4) radio galaxy halo by mapping the Lyman-alpha velocity field. The signal extends far beyond the optical and radio extents of the system. Plausible, but non-unique, models are made to explain the Lyman-alpha signal that require a very large reservoir of neutral hydrogen (>= 10E12 solar masses). Third, I study the dark matter halo profile in a nearby late-type dwarf galaxy in the context of the "core-cusp" controversy. N-body simulations predict such galaxies to have cuspy dark matter halos, while HI rotation curves and more recent hydrodynamical simulations indicate that such halos may instead be strongly cored. I measure the spatially resolved stellar velocity field and fit with two-integral Jeans models. A cuspy halo is preferred from the stellar kinematics. The mass models from stellar and gaseous kinematics disagree. The gas models assume circular motion in an infinitely thin disk which is likely unrealistic. The stellar kinematics presented are the first measurements of a collision-less tracer in such galaxies. Fourth, I attempt to measure diffuse H-alpha emission, fluoresced by the metagalactic UV background, in the outskirts of a nearby gas rich galaxy. I do not make a detection, but the deep flux limit over a large field-of-view places the most sensitive limit to-date on the UV background's photoionization rate of Gamma(z=0)<1.7x10E-14 1/s at 5 sigma certainty. / text

Calibrated, multiband radiometric measurements of the optical radiation emitted by rocket-triggered lightning (RTL) have been made in the ultraviolet (UV, 200-360 nm), the visible and near infrared (VNIR, 400-1000 nm), and the long wave infrared (LWIR, 8-12 µm) spectral bands. Measurements were recorded from a distance of 198 m at the University of Florida International Center for Lightning Research and Testing (ICLRT) during the summers of 2011 and 2012. The ICLRT provided time-correlated measurements of the current at the base of the RTL channels. Following the onset of a return stroke, the dominant mechanism for the initial rise of the UV and VNIR waveforms was the geometrical growth of the channel in the field-of-view of the sensors. The UV emissions peaked about 0.7 µs after the current peak, with a peak spectral power emitted by the source per unit length of channel of 10 ± 7 kW/(nm-m) in the UV. The VNIR emissions peaked 0.9 µs after the current peak, with a spectral power of at 7 ± 4 kW/(nm-m). The LWIR emissions peaked 30-50 µs after the current peak, and the mean peak spectral power was 940 ± 380 mW/(nm-m), a value that is about 4 orders of magnitude lower than the other spectral band emissions. In some returns strokes the LWIR peak coincides with a secondary maximum in the VNIR band that occurs during a steady decrease in channel current. Examples of the optical waveforms in each spectral band are shown as a function of time and are discussed in the context of the current measured at the channel base. Source power estimates in the VNIR band have a mean and standard deviation of 2.5 ± 2.2 MW/m and are in excellent agreement with similar estimates of the emission from natural subsequent strokes that remain in a pre-existing channel which have a mean and standard deviation of 2.3 ± 3.4 MW/m. The peak optical power emitted by RTL in the UV and VNIR bands are observed to be proportional to the square of the peak current at the channel base. The same trend was found for natural lightning using peak currents estimates provided by the National Lightning Detection Network. Ratios of the optical power to the electromagnetic power emitted at the time of peak current suggest the radiative efficiency in the VNIR band is a few percent during the early onset of a return stroke. The majority of return strokes in RTL are found to emit most of their optical energy during the initial impulse phase.

This dissertation explores the coupling between radiative and three-dimensional dynamical processes in the atmosphere of Titan, and their impact on the seasonal climate and recent paleoclimate. First, a simple calculation is used to demonstrate the atmospheric attenuation on the distribution of insolation. The maximum diurnal-mean surface insolation does not reach the polar regions in summertime, and this impacts both surface temperatures and their destabilizing effect on the atmosphere. Second, a detailed two-stream, fully non-gray radiative transfer model, written specifically for Titan but with high flexibility, is used to calculate radiative fluxes and the associated heating rates. This model reproduces Titan's temperature structure from the surface through the stratopause, over nearly six decades of pressure. Additionally, a physics parameterizations package is developed for Titan, in part based on similar methods from Earth atmospheric models, for use in a Titan general circulation model (GCM). Simulations with this model, including Titan's methane cycle, reproduce two important observational constraints---Titan's temperature profile and atmospheric superrotation---that have proven difficult to satisfy simultaneously for previous models. Simulations with the observed distribution of seas are used to examine the resulting distribution of cloud activity, atmospheric humidity, and temperatures, and show that these are consistent with dry mid- and low-latitudes, while the observed polar temperatures are reproduced as a consequence of evaporative cooling. Analysis of the surface energy budget shows that turbulent fluxes react to the surface insolation, confirming the importance of its distribution. Finally, the GCM is used to simulate Titan's climate during snapshots over the past 42 kyr that capture the amplitude range of variations in eccentricity and longitude of perihelion. The results show that the atmosphere is largely insensitive to orbital forcing, and that it invariably transports methane poleward, suggesting Titan's low-latitudes have been deserts for at least hundreds of thousands of years. In detail, seasonal asymmetries do affect the distribution of methane, moving methane to the pole with the weaker summer, though orbital variations do not imply a long-period asymmetry. If the timescale for the atmosphere to transport the surface liquid reservoir is sufficiently short, this explains the observed north-south dichotomy of lakes and seas.

I investigate the emission properties of the molecular interstellar medium in protoplanetary disks and galaxy mergers, though focus largely on the latter topic. I utilize both numerical models as well as observations to relate the emission characteristics to physical models for the formation and evolution of gas giant planets and galaxies. The main results of this thesis follow. (1) Gas giant protoplanets may be detectable via self-absorption signatures in molecular emission lines with sufficiently high critical density. Given the spatial resolution of e.g. ALMA, gas giant planets in formation may be directly imageable. (2) Starburst and AGN feedback-driven winds in galaxies can leave imprints on the molecular line emission properties via morphological outflows and high velocity peaks in the emission line spectra. Methods for distinguishing between high velocity peaks driven by dynamics versus those driven by winds are discussed. (3) CO line widths on average trace the virial velocity of z ∼ 6 quasar host halos. Thus, if the earliest quasars formed in ∼1013 M ⊙ halos, they are predicted to have broad molecular line widths. Selection effects may exist which tend quasars selected for optical luminosity toward molecular line widths narrower than the slightline-dependent mean. (4) Using the SMT, I observe a roughly linear relation between infrared luminosity and CO (J=3-2) luminosity in local galaxies confirming the results of recently observed L(IR)-HCN (J=1-0) relations. Subsequent modeling shows that observed SFR-molecular line luminosity relations owe to the average fraction of subthermally excited gas in galaxies, and are simply reflective of the assumed Schmidt law governing the SFR.

This dissertation focuses on the global investigation of optically thin cirrus cloud optical thickness (tau) and microphysical properties, such as, effective particle size (D_(eff)) and ice crystal habits (shapes), based on the global satellite observations and fast radiative transfer models (RTMs). In the first part, we develop two computationally efficient RTMs simulating satellite observations under cloudy-sky conditions in the visible/shortwave infrared (VIS/SWIR) and thermal inferred (IR) spectral regions, respectively. To mitigate the computational burden associated with absorption, thermal emission and multiple scattering, we generate pre-computed lookup tables (LUTs) using two rigorous models, i.e., the line-by-line radiative transfer model (LBLRTM) and the discrete ordinates radiative transfer model (DISORT). The second part introduces two methods (i.e., VIS/SWIR- and IR-based methods) to retrieve tau and D_(eff) from satellite observations in corresponding spectral regions of the two RTMs. We discuss the advantages and weakness of the two methods by estimating the impacts from different error sources on the retrievals through sensitivity studies. Finally, we develop a new method to infer the scattering phase functions of optically thin cirrus clouds in a water vapor absorption channel (1.38-µm). We estimate the ice crystal habits and surface structures by comparing the inferred scattering phase functions and numerically simulated phase functions calculated using idealized habits.

Measurements of the key aerosol properties including light scattering and backscattering coefficients (σsp and σbsp), light absorption coefficient (σap), and particle concentration were made at Summit, Greenland, in the summer of 2011. From these quantities, the single scattering albedo (ω) and angstrom scattering and absorption exponents (åsp, åap) were calculated. In conjunction with these measurements, aerosol optical depth (AOD or τ) and the spectral surface albedo, Rs, were measured. Additionally, the aerosol chemical composition was characterized through snow and air filter analyses. A radiative transfer model was used to estimate the direct aerosol radiative forcing and radiative forcing efficiency using the measurements as inputs. Taken as a whole, this project allowed for the first ever measurement-based characterization of aerosol radiative forcing over central Greenland.

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are compact regions in the centers of some galaxies. They emit significantly in the whole range of the electromagnetic spectrum and show variability at different timescales. Observational evidence suggests the presence of a dusty torus obscuring the central radiation source of AGN. According to the Unified Model the observed general properties of AGN emission can be understood on the basis of orientation of this torus toward an observer. Two main types of AGN are distinguished: Type 1, with detected emission from the inner torus cavity viewed pole-on, and Type 2, viewed through the obscuring torus. There are numerous attempts in the past decade to model the emission from the torus, considering a homogeneous distribution of dust. However, important problems in explaining the observations still remain unsolved: it is hard to suppress the 10 m emission feature of silicate dust for a pole-on view and at the same time produce an absorption feature for an edge-on viewed torus; despite the huge optical depths inferred from X-ray observations of Type 2 sources, the observed absorption feature is shallow. Unlike observations, models of homogeneous tori with large optical depths always produce deep absorption feature. While it is realized that dust contained in clumps would resolve these issues, modeling of a clumpy medium poses a serious computational challenge. We are the first to incorporate clumps in our model of a dusty torus and to successfully explain the infrared emission from AGN. We model two types of clouds: directly illuminated by the AGN and diffusely heated by other clouds. We calculate the emission of the first type as angle-averaged emission from a dusty slab. The second type of clouds is modeled as dusty spheres embedded in the radiation field of the directly heated clouds. The radiative transfer problem for a dusty slab and externally heated sphere is solved exactly with our code DUSTY. The overall emission of the torus is found by integration over the spatial distribution of clouds. We find a very good agreement of our model results with observations. Comparison with them can constrain the physical conditions in the AGN dusty tori.

The current capabilities of SASKTRAN – a radiative transfer model at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada – are to accurately model the scattering of solar radiation within the earth’s atmosphere for the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) and near infra-red (NIR) regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. However, the current model does not account for the radiation emitted by the ground and atmosphere, approximated by the blackbody spectrum. In the UV-Vis, this contribution is unimportant, but when transitioning to wavelengths longer than 2.5 μm, the solar spectrum decreases in intensity while radiation of terrestrial and atmospheric origin increases along the blackbody curve. At wavelengths longer than 5 μm in the far infra-red (FIR), the blackbody radiation is the dominant source in the atmosphere. A modification to the source code of SASKTRAN was made in order to include the additional effect of this “thermal” radiation – with the help of the spectral line database HITRAN – while still maintaining scattering capabilities of solar radiation. This would make SASKTRAN one of the first radiative transfer models with the ability to model radiation in the difficult region between 3 and 5 μm – the mid infra-red (MIR) region – where the solar and thermal radiation sources are equally diminished and are the same order of magnitude. An introduction is given to atmospheric physics with a focus on the science of infra-red active molecules like H2O, CO2, CH4, N2O, O3, and CO – the so-called “greenhouse gases” – and the measurement techniques used to determine their atmospheric distribution. A theoretical basis is then provided for general radiative transfer, and the physics of molecular absorption and emission is examined in detail. A summary of the implementation of thermal radiation within the SASKTRAN framework is given, followed by verification studies where the model’s radiative transfer calculations in the infra-red are compared against measurements, including those made by the ground-based instrument E-AERI, the space-borne instruments IASI and GOSAT, and against model results from the LBLRTM, another well-verified radiative transfer model.

All classes of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are fundamentally powered by accretion of gas onto a supermassive black hole. The process converts the potential energy of the infalling matter to X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, releasing up to several 1012 solar luminosities. Observations show that the accreting "central engines" in AGN are surrounded by dusty matter. The dust occupies a "torus" around the AGN which is comprised of discrete clumps. If the AGN radiation is propagating through the torus on its way to an observer, it will be heavily re-processed by the dust, i.e. converted from UV to infrared (IR) wavelengths. Much of the information about the input radiation is lost in this conversion process while an imprint of the dusty torus is left in the released IR photons. Our group was the first to formulate a consistent treatment of radiative transfer in a clumpy medium an important improvement over simpler models with smooth dust distributions previously used by researchers. Our code CLUMPY computes spectral energy distributions (SED) for any set of model parameters values. Fitting these models to observed AGN SEDs allows us to determine important quantities, such as the torus size, the spatial distribution of clumps, the torus covering factor, or the intrinsic AGN luminosity. Detailed modeling also permits us to study the complex behavior of certain spectral features. IR radiative transfer introduces degeneracies to the solution space: different parameter values can yield similar SEDs. The geometry of the torus further exacerbates the problem. Knowing the amount of parameter degeneracy present in our models is important for quantifying the confidence in data fits. When matching the models to observed SEDs we must employ modern statistical methods. In my research I use Bayesian statistics to determine the likely ranges of parameter values. I have developed all tools required for fitting observed SEDs with our large model database: the latest implementation of CLUMPY, the fit algorithms, the Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampler, and the Bayesian estimator. In collaboration with observing groups we have applied our methods to a multitude of real-life AGN.

In this thesis spectral solar zenith radiances are analyzed which were obtained from ship-based measurements over the Atlantic ocean. In combination with high-resolution lidar and microwave remote sensing optical and microphysical cloud properties were retrieved using spectral radiation data. To overcome problems of existing transmissivity-based cloud retrievals, a new retrieval algorithm is introduced which circumvents retrieval ambiguities and reduces the influence of measurement uncertainties. The method matches radiation measurements of ratios of spectral transmissivity at six wavelengths with modeled transmissivities. The new retrieval method is fast and accurate, and thus suitable for operational purposes. It is applied to homogeneous and inhomogeneous liquid water and cirrus clouds. The results from the new algorithm are compared to observations of liquid water path obtained from a microwave radiometer, yielding an overestimation for thick liquid water clouds but a slight underestimation for thin clouds. A statistical analysis of retrieved cloud properties during three Atlantic transects is introduced. Similar characteristics of cloud properties are found in the mid latitudes and northern subtropics but the large variability of meridional distribution in the remaining regions imply the prevailing influence of weather systems compared to typical cloud distributions. With about 63% homogeneous stratocumulus clouds are found to be the prevailing cloud type over ocean, while scattered and inhomogeneous liquid water clouds amount to 16% and 21%, respectively. All analyzed distributions are affected by an increased frequency of small values of cloud properties caused by 3D radiative effects. The comparison with satellite-based and ship-based cloud retrievals along the cruise track show comparable results for the cloud optical thickness with limitations for thick liquid water clouds. The meridional distribution of effective radius agreed within the uncertainties of both methods, however, the satellite-derived values are biased toward larger mean values.