Seasonal cycle of manganese in seawater in Harima Sound

Vertical and horizontal distributions of manganese in Harima Sound (Harima Nada, Seto Inland Sea) were measured in August and December 1979. High concentrations of dissolved and particulate manganese were found in bottom waters in August, suggesting that the bottom enrichment is probably due to the diffusion of dissolved manganese out of the sediment. From measured distributions, we estimate the annual flux of manganese at the sediment-water interface to be more than 800 tons per year, if Harima Sound is a closed system for manganese.     

Numerical experiments on low-frequency fluctuations on a submerged coastal reef

Low-frequency fluctuations on a reef coast are studied through a numerical model based on nonlinear conservation equations of mass and momentum. The model is used to investigate the long wave generation and propagation phenomena under both breaking and non-breaking incident short wave groups. The effects of incident wave characteristics and reef topography on the long wave phenomena are discussed. The results show that the long wave elevations on reef coasts are substantial, which explains the large water level fluctuations observed at certain occasions.     

Turbid bottom water layer and bottom sediment in the Seto Inland Sea

Measurement of the vertical distribution of total suspended matter (TSM) was carried out during summer throughout the Seto Inland Sea. TSM concentration near the bottom is influenced significantly by water movement and turbid bottom water is observed in all areas where median grain size (Md) of the bottom sediment is more than 47gf. The high concentration of TSM near the bottom may be due to resuspension of the surface layer of bottom sediments. Comparison of the organic content of the resuspended matter with that of the bottom sediment shows that the resuspended matter contains more organic matter with a lower C : N ratio than the bottom sediment. The C : N ratio of the resuspended matter is similar to that of TSM in the surface layer of the water column. It is thought that TSM in surface waters sinks and settles on the surface of the bottom sediment. This deposited material is then easily resuspended in the water column by tidal currents before becoming permanently incorporated into the bottom sediment.     

A prediction model for wind speed ratios at pedestrian level with simplified urban canopies

The purpose of this study is to review and improve prediction models for wind speed ratios at pedestrian level with simplified urban canopies. We adopted an extensive database of velocity fields under various conditions for arrays consisting of cubes, slender or flattened rectangles, and rectangles with varying roughness heights. Conclusions are summarized as follows: first, a new geometric parameter is introduced as a function of the plan area index and the aspect ratio so as to express the increase in virtual density that causes wind speed reduction. Second, the estimated wind speed ratios in the range 0.05?<?z/h?<?0.3, where h is the building height, are consistent with those derived from the database to within an error of ±25%. Lastly, the effects of the spatial distribution of the flow were investigated by classifying the regions near building models into areas in front of, to the side of, or behind the building. The correlation coefficients between the wind speeds averaged over the entire region, and the front or side region values are larger than 0.8. In contrast, in areas where the influence of roughness elements is significant, such as behind a building, the wind speeds are weakly correlated.     

Tropospheric adjustment to increasing CO2: its timescale and the role of land–sea contrast

Physical processes responsible for tropospheric adjustment to increasing carbon dioxide concentration are investigated using abrupt CO₂ quadrupling experiments of a general circulation model (GCM) called the model for interdisciplinary research on climate version 5 with several configurations including a coupled atmosphere–ocean GCM, atmospheric GCM, and aqua-planet model. A similar experiment was performed in weather forecast mode to explore timescales of the tropospheric adjustment. We found that the shortwave component of the cloud radiative effect (SWcld) reaches its equilibrium within 2 days of the abrupt CO₂ increase. The change in SWcld is positive, associated with reduced clouds in the lower troposphere due to warming and drying by instantaneous radiative forcing. A reduction in surface turbulent heat fluxes and increase of the near-surface stability result in shoaling of the marine boundary layer, which shifts the cloud layer downward. These changes are common to all experiments regardless of model configuration, indicating that the cloud adjustment is primarily independent of air–sea coupling and land–sea thermal contrast. The role of land in cloud adjustment is further examined by a series of idealized aqua-planet experiments, with a rectangular continent of varying width. Land surface warming from quadrupled CO₂ induces anomalous upward motion, which increases high cloud and associated negative SWcld over land. The geographic distribution of continents regulates the spatial pattern of the cloud adjustment. A larger continent produces more negative SWcld, which partly compensates for a positive SWcld over the ocean. The land-induced negative adjustment is a factor but not necessary requirement for the tropospheric adjustment.     

Summertime land–sea thermal contrast and atmospheric circulation over East Asia in a warming climate—Part II: Importance of CO2-induced continental warming

In this the second of a two-part study, we examine the physical mechanisms responsible for the increasing contrast of the land–sea surface air temperature (SAT) in summertime over the Far East, as observed in recent decades and revealed in future climate projections obtained from a series of transient warming and sensitivity experiments conducted under the umbrella of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5. On a global perspective, a strengthening of land–sea SAT contrast in the transient warming simulations of coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation models is attributed to an increase in sea surface temperature (SST). However, in boreal summer, the strengthened contrast over the Far East is reproduced only by increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentration. In response to SST increase alone, the tropospheric warming over the interior of the mid- to high-latitude continents including Eurasia are weaker than those over the surrounding oceans, leading to a weakening of the land–sea SAT contrast over the Far East. Thus, the increasing contrast and associated change in atmospheric circulation over East Asia is explained by CO₂-induced continental warming. The degree of strengthening of the land–sea SAT contrast varies in different transient warming scenarios, but is reproduced through a combination of the CO₂-induced positive and SST-induced negative contributions to the land–sea contrast. These results imply that changes of climate patterns over the land–ocean boundary regions are sensitive to future scenarios of CO₂ concentration pathways including extreme cases.     

Knowledge engineering application in the problem of supporting a large mirror

We propose an application of knowledge engineering in the problem of active supporting for a large mirror. To reduce calculating load and to shorten cycle time, we divide the system hierarchically into a managing central controller and many autonomous local controllers, and use reasoning instead of dynamical analysis. The reasoning is based upon pattern matchings between observed error pattern and test patterns in the knowledge base.Paper presented at the Symposium on the JNLT and Related Engineering Developments, Tokyo, November 29–December 2, 1988.