Dataset of night-time emissions of the Earth in the near UV range (290-430 nm), with 6.3 km resolution in the latitude range -51.6

The data presented in this article are related to the research paper entitled "Observation of night-time emissions of the Earth in the near UV range from the International Space Station with the Mini-EUSO detector" (Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 284, January 2023, 113336, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.113336). The data have been acquired with the Mini-EUSO detector, an UV telescope operating in the range 290-430 nm and located inside the International Space Station. The detector was launched in August 2019, and it has started operations from the nadir-facing UV-transparent window in the Russian Zvezda module in October 2019. The data presented here refer to 32 sessions acquired between 2019-11-19 and 2021-05-06. The instrument consists of a Fresnel-lens optical system and a focal surface composed of 36 multi-anode photomultiplier tubes, each with 64 channels, for a total of 2304 channels with single photon counting sensitivity. The telescope, with a square field-of-view of 44°, has a spatial resolution on the Earth surface of 6.3 km and saves triggered transient phenomena with a temporal resolution of 2.5 µs and 320 µs. The telescope also operates in continuous acquisition at a 40.96 ms scale. In this article, large-area night-time UV maps obtained processing the 40.96 ms data, taking averages over regions of some specific geographical areas (e.g., Europe, North America) and over the entire globe, are presented. Data are binned into 0.1° × 0.1° or 0.05° × 0.05° cells (depending on the scale of the map) over the Earth's surface. Raw data are made available in the form of tables (latitude, longitude, counts) and .kmz files (containing the .png images). These are - to the best of our knowledge - the highest sensitivity data in this wavelength range and can be of use to various disciplines.

A Review of the EUSO-Balloon Pathfinder for the JEM-EUSO Program.

EUSO-Balloon is a pathfinder for JEM-EUSO, the mission concept of a spaceborne observatory which is designed to observe Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR)-induced Extensive Air Showers (EAS) by detecting their UltraViolet (UV) light tracks "from above." On August 25, 2014, EUSO-Balloon was launched from Timmins Stratospheric Balloon Base (Ontario, Canada) by the balloon division of the French Space Agency CNES. After reaching a floating altitude of 38 km, EUSO-Balloon imaged the UV light in the wavelength range ∼290-500 nm for more than 5 hours using the key technologies of JEM-EUSO. The flight allowed a good understanding of the performance of the detector to be developed, giving insights into possible improvements to be applied to future missions. A detailed measurement of the photoelectron counts in different atmospheric and ground conditions was achieved. By means of the simulation of the instrument response and by assuming atmospheric models, the absolute intensity of diffuse light was estimated. The instrument detected hundreds of laser tracks with similar characteristics to EASs shot by a helicopter flying underneath. These are the first recorded laser tracks measured from a fluorescence detector looking down on the atmosphere. The reconstruction of the direction of the laser tracks was performed. In this work, a review of the main results obtained by EUSO-Balloon is presented as well as implications for future space-based observations of UHECRs.

LIF/Raman/XRF non-invasive microanalysis of frescoes from St. Alexander catacombs in Rome.

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray (XRF) fluorescence were used to study two frescoes at the S. Alexander catacombs complex, in Rome. LIF analysis has shown the presence of a transparent protective material probably deposited in previous restoration treatments and allowed to clearly distinguish the areas undergoing the current restoration process from the ones which still have to be treated. Raman and XRF analysis allowed to non-destructively characterizing most of the pictorial materials used for the artworks, including calcite (CaCO3), red ochre (Fe2O3), minium (Pb3O4), yellow ochre (α-FeOOH) and others. Therefore, thanks to the complementarity of the above-mentioned techniques, it was possible to obtain a detailed characterization of the studied frescoes. Finally, the whole ensemble of results constituted a valid tool to effectively plan the restoration of the frescoes.