Has the stilling of the surface wind speed ended in China?

Since the 1960 s, the global land surface wind speed(SWS) has significantly weakened, a phenomenon known as global terrestrial stilling. The latest research found that the stilling reversed around 2010, and since then the global SWS has been strengthening. However, there is still a lack of systematic quantitative analysis in China. We analyzed the transition and regional differences in the long-term trends of the SWS in China based on observational SWS data from 1971 to 2019. The results showed that annual mean SWS in China underwent a reversal from a continuously weakening trend to a significantly strengthening trend around 2014 and implying that stilling may have ended in 2014. The reversal had obvious regional and seasonal variations. In Northeast China, Western Xinjiang as well as on the Tibetan Plateau, the years with both annual and seasonal mean SWS changing from weakening to strengthening were around 2013/2014, 1993/1994, and 2000. However, in the west of North China,SWS showed an obviously strengthening trend only in autumn and winter after 2007; while only autumn mean SWS showed a strengthening trend after 2012 in South China. It should be noted that stilling is ongoing in the eastern and southern coastal areas,North China and Eastern Xinjiang.     

Estimation of the temperature in the Earth’s interior from surface measurements of the electromagnetic field

The possibility of contactless remote estimation of the temperature in the Earth’s interior from surface magnetotelluric (MT) measurements is examined. The neuronet analysis of MT and temperature measurements in the Bishkek geodynamic research area (the Northern Tien Shan) showed that a contactless electromagnetic geothermometer can in principle be realized. An optimal method including MT measurements and treatment of available thermograms is developed. The method minimizes uncertainties of the remote temperature estimation. The use of six to eight thermograms for calibration of electromagnetic data is shown to provide a 12% relative error of prediction, and a priori geological information available for the region under study can reduce this error. Areas of practical application of a contactless electromagnetic geothermometer are outlined.     

Excitation of small-scale convection in the continental lithosphere by disturbances in the topography of the Earth’s surface

After the buildup of a steady convective motion in a layer, the topography of its surface is determined only by the displacements of the material particles lying on its surface.     

The surface spherical harmonics and the development of tidal generating potential

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Experimental study on the relation between the water content of surface soil and theacoustic wave

Introduction Earthquake is not an isolated event. The focal region is not a closed system either. It is able to exchange energy or material with the medium outside this region. These kinds of exchange may cause various physical and chemical effects, so it is possible to get precursory signals by using space remote sensing technology. Many scholars (QIANG, et al, 1990; GENG, et al, 1992; XU, et al, 1995) have carried out some preliminary researches and experiments on the mechanism of therm…     

The surface geochemical exploration of oil and gas in the Gangbatong-Ya’anxiang and the Dongqiao-Nam Co of the Qinghai-Tibet region

Due to the complexity of geological background and the adverseness of natural geographical environment in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, it is very difficult to carry out petroleum geological study in this region. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the only blank space of petroleum exploration on a large scale. The authors carried out the surface geochemical exploration of oil and gas in the Gangbatong-Ya’anxiang and Dongqiao-Nam Co of the Qinghai-Tibet region. Based on the data of actual detection and experiments in the studied area, the characteristics of concentration and profile distribution of the main geochemical exploration indicators (total adsorbed hydrocarbon, altered carbonate, thermal released mercury, etc.) were discussed. The origin of hydrocarbon was also discussed. Moreover, the oil and gas potential of different sections in the Qiangtang Basin and the Biru Basin were evaluated, which could provide references for the exploration and prediction of oil and gas in this region. The concentrations of total adsorbed hydrocarbons in the Ya’anxiang of Suoxian County-Zadong of Baqing County and the Jiecha-Dangxiong of Anduo County in the Qinghai-Tibet region are high, averaging 312.64 μL·kg^?1 and 164.36 μL·kg^?1. Their altered carbonate concentrations are relatively low, averaging 0.11% and 0.56%. Their concentrations of thermal released mercury are relatively high, averaging 13.09×10^?9 and 1.94×10^?9. Geochemical exploration results in fact reflect hydrocarbon information in the underground, which are mainly petroleum associated gas and over-matured cracking gas. The Jiecha-Charenluma and the Xiamaya’ertong-Suoba sections in the Qiangtang Basin are the most favorable ones for oil and gas and the Ekou-Zadong section is relatively favorable one, while the Nam Co and the Zigetangcuo-Dongqiao sections in the Biru Basin are the favorable ones for oil and gas, and the Jiang Co-Nading Co and the Ya’anxiang-Ya’ertong sections are relatively favorable ones.     

On the sand surface stability in the southern part of Gurbantünggüt Desert

Longitudinal dunes are the most widespread dune types in the world sand seas but comprehensive study on the sand surface stability is scarce. The southern part of Gürbantünggüt Desert is mainly covered by longitudinal dune in which fixed and semi-fixed dunes occupy over 80% of the total area. Systematic analysis on the climatic conditions, the soil moisture and vegetation distributions, and the sand surface activities showed that the fixed and semi-fixed dunes are in a comprehensive low-energy wind environment. Snow cover and frozen soil provide a good protection to the ground surface in winter. The temporal distribution of precipitation and corresponding variation of temperature create a favorable condition for the desert plants growth, especially for the ephemeral plants. The occurrence of effective winds for sand moving in April to June coincides with the stage of relatively wet sand surface and good vegetation cover, which effectively keep the sand surface stable at the interdune and the plinth of the dunes. Activity sand surface appears only at the crest and the upper part of the sand dunes.     

On the sand surface stability in the southern part of Gurbantnggt Desert

Longitudinal dunes,also known as linear dunes,are the most widespread of all dune types,which occupy1/2to2/3of the total area in the world sand seas.They mainly occur in the southern part of Africa,Arabian Peninsular,Australia,Central Asia and North Af-rica-Middle East regions[1],in China they mainly ap-pear in the Gurbantnggt Desert.Many researches have been done on wind dynamics of the sand dune and its relations with environmental conditions[2—9],but comprehensive studies on sand …     

Selecting a method for interpreting GPS measurements of geodynamic movements of a point of the Earth’s surface in the high-frequency range

Different variants for interpreting the data of vertical and horizontal channels of GPS measurements are examined during experimental works. The movements of an observation point are imitated experimentally in the vertical and horizontal directions at a geophysical observatory. The experiments are carried out on a pedestal with original benchmarks in both directions. The movements are imitated in the high-frequency range with different time values of movement from one point to another, which did not exceed 1 h. The errors in imaging movements of measurement points according to the results of interpreting the readings of GPS receivers are shown in relation to the benchmark movements of measurement points in the vertical and horizontal directions. These data are processed in the differential mode using the precise point positioning (PPP) method. The experimental results confirm that there is no potential of imaging vertical movements of the Earth’s surface caused by tidal observations according to GPS receiver data.     

Interdependent perturbations of the Earth’s surface, atmosphere, and ionosphere

The results of original experiments performed with a ground-based geophysical laser interferometer and a GPS-based satellite ionospheric profilometer are given. Synchronous growth was recorded for deformations of the Earth’s surface and variations in the atmospheric pressure and in the level of spatiotemporal modifications of the electron content within the ionospheric F2 layer with characteristic space scales of 10²–10³ km and periods of 10²–10³ s. The relationship between the revealed phenomena and the Earth’s seismic activity is analyzed.     

How representative are local measurements of the surface shear stress for regional values?

Local values of surface shear stress measured by eddy correlation devices were compared to regional ones generated by Monin–Obukhov similarity (MOS) theory in the atmospheric surface layer over the cooperative atmosphere–surface exchange study (CASES) area in eastern Kansas. For this comparison, minisodar average wind speed profiles were used to implement MOS. The local surface shear stress values were found to be representative of the regional ones only under free convective conditions. For weak to strongly neutral atmospheric conditions, regional values of the surface shear stress were underpredicted by a factor of two by the locally measured ones. Empirical interpolation equations are proposed to describe the relationship in the intermediate range. The surface roughness values of 0.12 and 0.40 m, respectively, were determined for the two locations of the minisodar sounders by regional analysis of their mean wind speed measurements under neutral atmospheric conditions. The roughness values found in this present study compared well to past investigations conducted in this region. Minisodar roughness values were found in this present study to be a good alternative to radiosonde determined ones.     

Studying surface structure in desert areas using multiple kinds of surface wave data

Shallow surface wave methods are mostly used for investigation of the surface velocity structure in environmental and engineering geophysics in non-desert areas. For the special geological features of the Takelamagan Desert area, we use the multi-channel analysis of surface wave （MASW） method to process multi-channel shallow surface wave records to determine the near surface velocity structure in the desert area. We also process, analyze, and compare the surface waves in many-trace records extracted from the oil exploration shot gathers in the area. We show that the MASW method can determine detailed shallow velocity structure in desert areas and the many-trace records can be used to get detailed deep geological structure. The combination of the two different datasets can obtain the exact velocity structure upper 60 m depth in the survey area.     

Integrated surface water–groundwater modelling in the context of increasing water reserves of a regional Sahelian aquifer

Abstract

Despite the Sahelian drought of the 1970s–1990s, the unconfined aquifer in southwest Niger exhibits a multidecadal increase in groundwater reserves. Recent changes in land surface conditions have enhanced runoff and thus indirect groundwater recharge below endorheic ponds. This paper presents a model-based investigation of surface runoff and groundwater recharge at mesoscale (～5000 km²). A new lumped-conceptual runoff model applicable to the large number of ungauged endorheic catchments is specially developed, derived from an existing fine-scale, physically-based hydrologic model. Runoff simulated for sites identified as groundwater recharge sources are used to derive recharge forcing for a Modflow-based model of the aquifer. The rising water table trend and its spatial distribution over the period 1992–2003 are generally well simulated, albeit smoothed year-to-year dynamics. Comparison with alternative methods of recharge estimation suggests, however, that there may presently exist more recharging sites and/or contributing surfaces than those considered so far.

Citation Massuel, S., Cappelaere, B., Favreau, G., Leduc, C., Lebel, T. & Vischel, T. (2011) Integrated surface water–groundwater modelling in the context of increasing water reserves of a regional Sahelian aquifer. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(7), 1242–1264.     

Characteristics of pCO_2 in surface water of the Bering Abyssal Plain and their effects on carbon cycle in the western Arctic Ocean

The global warming has obviously been causingthe Arctic sea ice shrinking and thinning during thelast 30 years, which would increase free ice waters andenhance biological productivity. These changes willimpact the source and sink of carbon in the ArcticOcean and subarctic waters as well as a feedback tothe global change[1—3]. The Chukchi Sea is located in the southwest ofthe western Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea in thenorthwest of the North Pacific Ocean. Both seas are 1997—2001) and…     

A regional surface wave magnitude scale for the earthquakes of Russia’s Far East

The modified scale M _s(20R) is developed for the magnitude classification of the earthquakes of Russia’s Far East based on the surface wave amplitudes at regional distances. It extends the applicability of the classical Gutenberg scale M _s(20) towards small epicentral distances (0.7°–20°). The magnitude is determined from the amplitude of the signal that is preliminarily bandpassed to extract the components with periods close to 20 s. The amplitude is measured either for the surface waves or, at fairly short distances of 0.7°–3°, for the inseparable wave group of the surface and shear waves. The main difference of the M _s(20R) scale with the traditional M _s(BB) Soloviev–Vanek scale is its firm spectral anchoring. This approach practically eliminated the problem of the significant (up to–0.5) regional and station anomalies characteristic of the M _s(BB) scale in the conditions of the Far East. The absence of significant station and regional anomalies, as well as the strict spectral anchoring, make the M _s(20R) scale advantageous when used for prompt decision making in tsunami warnings for the coasts of Russia’s Far East.     

Atmospheric correction of remote sensing imagery based on the surface spectrum’s vector space

Due to the atmosphere effect,the qualities of images decrease conspicuously,practically in the visible bands,in the processing of earth observation by the satellite-borne sensors.Thus,removing the atmosphere effects has become a key step to improve the qualities of images and to retrieve the actual reflectivity of surface features.An atmospheric correction approach,called ACVSS(Atmospheric Correction based Vector Space of Spectrum),is proposed here based on the vector space of the features’ spectrum.The reflectance image of each band is retrieved first according to the radiative transfer equation,then the spectrum’s vector space is constructed using the infrared bands,and finally the residual errors of the reflectance images in the visible bands are corrected based on the pixel position in the spectrum’s vector space.The proposed methodology is verified through atmospheric correction on Landsat-7 ETM+ imagery.The experimental results show that our method is more accurate and the corrected image is more distinct,compared with those offered by current popular atmospheric correction software.