Ground motions around a deep semielliptic canyon with a horizontal edge subjected to incident plane SH waves

We study scattering of antiplane shear waves induced by a deep semielliptic canyon with a horizontal edge. We employ the region-point-matching technique to cope with the problem considered. Through an auxiliary boundary, a part of the circumference of a semiellipse, the whole analyzed region is divided into two subregions. We express the displacement fields in terms of Mathieu functions. We unify two distinct elliptic coordinates via a simple coordinate transformation relation. Integration of the coordinate transformation relation into the region-point-matching technique simplifies the procedure for constructing simultaneous equations. Imposing the continuity conditions and traction-free ones, we obtain the expansion coefficients. Frequency-domain results demonstrate ground motion variability based on several key factors. Ground surface responses under seismic shaking are also simulated in the time domain.     

Effects of atmosphere-ocean interaction on the interannual variability of winter temperature in Taiwan and East Asia

 This study investigated the ocean-atmosphere interaction effect on the winter surface air temperature in Taiwan. Temperature fluctuations in Taiwan and marine East Asia correlated better with a SST dipole in the western North Pacific than the SST in the central/eastern equatorial Pacific. During the warm (cold) winters, a positive (negative) SST anomaly appears in marine East Asia and a negative (positive) SST anomaly appears in the Philippine Sea. The corresponding low-level atmospheric circulation is a cyclonic (anticyclonic) anomaly over the East Asian continent and an anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation in the Philippine Sea during the warm (cold) winters. Based on the results of both numerical and empirical studies, it is proposed that a vigorous ocean-atmosphere interaction occurring in the western North Pacific modulates the strength of the East Asian winter monsoon and the winter temperature in marine East Asia. The mechanism is described as follows. The near-surface circulation anomalies, which are forced by the local SST anomaly, strengthen (weaken) the northeasterly trade winds in the Philippine Sea and weaken (strengthen) the northeasterly winter monsoon in East Asia during warm (cold) winters. The anomalous circulation causes the SST to fluctuate by modulating the heat flux at the ocean surface. The SST anomaly in turn enhances the anomalous circulation. Such an ocean-atmosphere interaction results in the rapid development of the anomalous circulation in the western North Pacific and the anomalous winter temperature in marine East Asia. This interaction is phase-locked with the seasonal cycle and occurs most efficiently in the boreal winters. Received: 22 October 1999 / Accepted: 5 June 2000     

Precise tidal gravity recorded with superconducting gravimeters at stations Wuhan (China) and Kyoto (Japan)

 Three long series of tidal gravity observations, totalizing approximately 24 years and recorded with three superconducting gravimeters, T004, T008, and T009, at stations Wuhan (China) and Kyoto (Japan), are studied. The tidal amplitude factors and phase differences are determined precisely using Eterna and Nsv techniques. The precision of the main tidal amplitudes is at the same level of 0.01 μGal. The atmospheric gravity signals are corrected using the coefficients determined with a regression method between tidal gravity residual and station air pressure. The oceanic gravity signals are modeled based on five global oceanic models. It is found that the oceanic models developed by the analysis of measurements from Topex/Poseidon altimeters have the best fit to the superconducting gravimeter measurements, since the observed residuals and the discrepancies between the amplitude factors and the theoretical tidal models are reduced more significantly. The long-period gravity variations are dominated by the non-linear drift phenomena of the instruments, and the short-term variations in gravity are due to the background noise at the stations. Received: 20 January 2000 / Accepted: 15 September 2000     

The influence of upstream slope on the local scour at drop structure

The drop structure will fail as a result of local scoring downstream. This paper discusses the influence of a drop structures’ upstream slope to local scour. Empirical equations of the scour hole were developed by laboratory experiment, theoretical assumptions, and regression analysis. These equations include the maximum scour depth and length during the scouring period, the maximum equilibrium scour depth and length, and the unit width scour rate. The four channel slopes (0%, 2%, 4%, and 6%) before the drop structure has been included in the analysis. A series of laboratory experiments were conducted to obtain 48 groups of experiments and 419 scour hole profiles during the scouring period. The material used in the scour section is uniform non-cohesive and with a median diameter of d ₅₀ = 0.5 mm. The results have been used to develop empirical equations via regression analysis to determine the coefficients of theoretical equations. The high correlation coefficient indicates that the equations developed in this study are suitable for verifying the characteristics of a scour hole at drop structure in the sloped channel. The semi-empirical equation is more accurate than the empirical equation. Compared to a horizontal channel, a sloped channel tends to cause a greater equilibrium maximum scour length, shorter equilibrium maximum scour depth, and faster unit-wide scour rate.     

3D building model-based pedestrian positioning method using GPS/GLONASS/QZSS and its reliability calculation

The current low-cost global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) receiver cannot calculate satisfactory positioning results for pedestrian applications in urban areas with dense buildings due to multipath and non-line-of-sight effects. We develop a rectified positioning method using a basic three-dimensional city building model and ray-tracing simulation to mitigate the signal reflection effects. This proposed method is achieved by implementing a particle filter to distribute possible position candidates. The likelihood of each candidate is evaluated based on the similarity between the pseudorange measurement and simulated pseudorange of the candidate. Finally, the expectation of all the candidates is the rectified positioning of the proposed map method. The proposed method will serve as one sensor of an integrated system in the future. For this purpose, we successfully define a positioning accuracy based on the distribution of the candidates and their pseudorange similarity. The real data are recorded at an urban canyon environment in the Chiyoda district of Tokyo using a commercial grade u-blox GNSS receiver. Both static and dynamic tests were performed. With the aid of GLONASS and QZSS, it is shown that the proposed method can achieve a 4.4-m 1σ positioning error in the tested urban canyon area.     

中国夏季风暴之路径与其雨量之分布

作者为明瞭中国温带风暴及台风雨量分布之情形及其与路径之关系,特取民国二十四年夏季(六月至八月)经过中国本部之温带风暴及登陆之台风,逐一分别检讨。先作各日上午六时之风暴路径图,然