On the prediction of rainfall onset and retreat dates in Nigeria

Summary This study examined the rainfall onset and retreat dates between 1962 and 1996 in Nigeria, and generated models for their prediction. The study used the composite of rainfall-promoting factors namely, sea surface temperature of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, land/sea thermal contrast between some selected locations in Nigeria and the tropical Atlantic Ocean, surface location of the Inter-tropical Discontinuity and the land surface temperature in the selected locations in Nigeria. Rainfall and temperature data were collected from Ikeja, Benin, Ibadan, Ilorin, Kaduna and Kano, in Nigeria. Cumulative percentage mean rainfall was employed to generate the rainfall onset and retreat dates series, while the method of stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to construct the required prediction models.The results obtained showed that the hypothesized rainfall-promoting factors are efficient in predicting rainfall onset and retreat dates in Nigeria. The correlation coefficients (R²) obtained are in most cases (>75%) higher than 0.50 (with several of them approaching 0.90). Sea surface temperature and land/sea thermal contrast are the most significant predictor variables. The results also indicated that all the areas of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, from the Gulf of Guinea, through St Helena and Ascension Island, up to the Benguela Current region, influence the inter-annual variability in the rainfall onset and retreat dates of Nigeria.     

Surface Energy Balance Measurements Above an Exurban Residential Neighbourhood of Kansas City,Missouri

Previous measurements of urban energy balances generally have been limited to densely built, central city sites and older suburban locations with mature tree canopies that are higher than the height of the buildings. In contrast, few data are available for the extensive, open vegetated types typical of low-density residential areas that have been newly converted from rural land use. We made direct measurements of surface energy fluxes using the eddy-covariance technique at Greenwood, a recently developed exurban neighbourhood near Kansas City, Missouri, USA, during an intensive field campaign in August 2004. Energy partitioning was dominated by the latent heat flux under both cloudy and near clear-sky conditions. The mean daytime Bowen ratio (β) values were 0.46, 0.48, and 0.47 respectively for the cloudy, near clear-sky and all-sky conditions. Net radiation (R _n ) increased rapidly from dawn (−34 and −58W m⁻²) during the night to reach a maximum (423 and 630W m⁻²) after midday for cloudy and near clear-sky conditions respectively. Mean daytime values were 253 and 370W m⁻², respectively for the cloudy and near clear-sky conditions, while mean daily values were 114 for cloudy and 171W m⁻² for near clear-sky conditions, respectively. Midday surface albedo values were 0.25 and 0.24 for the cloudy and near clear-sky conditions, respectively. The site exhibited an angular dependence on the solar elevation angle, in contrast to previous observations over urban and suburban areas, but similar to vegetated surfaces. The latent heat flux (Q _E ), sensible heat flux (Q _H ), and the residual heat storage ΔQ _s terms accounted for between 46–58%, 21–23%, and 18–31% of R _n , respectively, for all-sky conditions and time averages. The observed albedo, R _n , and Q _E values are higher than the values that have been reported for suburban areas with high summer evapotranspiration rates in North America. These results suggest that the rapidly growing residential areas at the exurban fringe of large metropolitan areas have a surface energy balance that is more similar to the rural areas from which they were developed than it is to the older suburbs and city centres that make up the urban fabric to which they are being joined.     

Fuzzy MCDM-based GIS model for subsea oil pipeline route optimization: An integrated approach

Proper pipeline route selection is an integral component of a typical oil exploration and transportation project. Improperly selected routes could have severe consequences including pipe failures, oil spillage, and environmental disasters. Consequently, technologies like geographic information systems (GIS) are increasingly being used to facilitate the oil pipeline route selection procedure—especially for onshore routing projects. Surprisingly, not much has been documented on the application of GIS to offshore pipeline routing. With recent discoveries on the merits of offshore oil exploration, it is necessary to extend the analytical capabilities of GIS to the unique offshore domain. However, concerns have been raised regarding the limitations of GIS in accurately prioritizing diverse selection criteria in typical multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems like route selection. Consequently, this paper addresses the offshore/subsea pipeline routing constraint using a hybrid decision support system (DSS), which integrates a GIS and fuzzy logic-based approximate reasoning (AR) models for optimal performance. The resultant spatial decision support system (SDSS) was successfully applied to a case study in Malaysia. The AR algorithm calculated the significance level of the multiple criteria using various fuzzy linguistic variables and membership functions. The aggregated priority ranking from different pipeline routing experts showed that the overall influence of the environmental criteria (61.4%) significantly exceeded that of other equally important criteria in the study area. These rankings were inputted into the SDSS to simulate various probable routes. Final results accurately highlighted an optimal route, which places a premium on the protection of environmental features in the subsea study area—in alignment with the preferences of majority of the experts.     

GIS-based analytic hierarchy process as a multicriteria decision analysis instrument: a review

Information and communication technology, which has been incorporated and provided in the Geographic Information System (GIS), is valuable and effective geospatial information for the decision makers in improving their decisions in planning and development. The integration of this GIS using the multicriteria decision analysis approach provides an environment to the decision makers in citing areas using land suitability analysis procedures. This review paper particularly examines the GIS-based analytic hierarchy process as a multicriteria analysis/evaluation technique in land suitability analysis by means of literature reviews and surveys.     

Stability of triangular points in the photogravitational CR3BP with Poynting-Robertson drag and a smaller triaxial primary

The stability of triangular equilibrium points in the framework of the circular restricted three-body problem (CR3BP) is investigated for a test particle of infinitesimal mass in the vicinity of two massive bodies (primaries), when the bigger primary is a source of radiation and the smaller one is a triaxial rigid body with one of the axes as the axis of symmetry and its equatorial plane coinciding with the plane of motion, under the Poynting-Robertson (P-R) drag effect as a result of the radiating primary. It is found that the involved parameters influence the position of triangular points and their linear stability. It is noted that these points are unstable in the presence of Poynting-Robertson drag effect and conditionally stable in the absence of it.     

Wavelength dependence of aerosol optical depth and the fit of the Ångström law

Summary ?The dependence of aerosol optical depth on wavelength as well as the fit of the ?ngstr?m approximation have been investigated under different air masses at a sub-Arctic location (Abisko, Sweden; 68° 21′ N, 18° 49′ E) and a tropical environment (Ife, Nigeria; 7° 30′ N, 4° 31′ E). The study is based on spectral data acquired with a high resolution spectral radiometer (spectral range: 300–1100 nm) in absorption-free regions. The wavelength dependence of the aerosols under different air mass conditions at the sub-arctic location offer significant contrasts to aerosols of Saharan origin at Ife. A general characteristic of the aerosol optical depth spectra after the Pinatubo volcanic eruption was a much weaker wavelength dependence relative to pre-Pinatubo conditions. Categorising the features of the optical depth spectra according to their wavelength dependence, three main groups were observed at Abisko, while two main classes have been discussed for the harmattan season in the tropical climate of Ife and environs. For the first two groups in Abisko (and the first group at Ife), aerosol optical depth generally decreased with wavelength while the third group (second group at Ife) exhibited strong curvatures. The correlation coefficient obtained from the regression equation of the ?ngstr?m equation, has been shown to be a good index of the general fit of the ?ngstr?m approximation for the three groups at Abisko, but much weaker for the harmattan conditions at the tropical location. Although the probability of systematic deviations from the ?ngstr?m law is highest under intense harmattan conditions with considerably high β and low α, it has been observed that the ?ngstr?m fit was good in many highly turbid conditions at the tropical site. Hence, apart from the level of turbidity, the applicability of the ?ngstr?m approximation is strongly dependent on aerosol characteristics and source region. Formerly Adeyefa. Received May 18, 2001; revised June 20, 2002; accepted August 5, 2002     

The Effect of Atmospheric Stability on the Surface-Layer Characteristics in a Low-Wind Area of Tropical West Africa

This study details the observed effects ofatmospheric stability on characteristics of thesurface layer in a low wind speed (U = 1.5 m s-1)regime of tropical West Africa. Theaerodynamic roughness length, z0, anddisplacement height, d, obtained from profilewind-speed data at our bush land site (height 2 m)have values of 0.24 ± 0.10 m and 1.54 ± 0.04 mrespectively. In the unstable range (-2.5 < Ri < -0.1; Riis gradient Richardson number), thestandard deviation in wind speed fluctuations, u, increased from 0.57 ± 0.19 m s-1 toa maximum of 0.7 ± 0.2 m s-1 in near-neutralconditions, and in the stable range, the parameterdecreased rapidly to 0.41 ± 0.15 m s-1 at Ri 0.2.In the same stability range, the horizontal winddispersion, , decreased withincreasing stability from 19 ± 8 deg. to 13 ± 5 deg.The surface-layer integral quantity, u/u*, when plottedas a function of stability, is in agreement with theempirical results. The ratio ofsensible heat flux (estimated) to the net radiationranged between 0.1 and 0.2 at nighttime,increasing to about 0.5 during the daytime, and showeda strong dependency on season.     

In-Street Wind Direction Variability in the Vicinity of a Busy Intersection in Central London

We present results from fast-response wind measurements within and above a busy intersection between two street canyons (Marylebone Road and Gloucester Place) in Westminster, London taken as part of the DAPPLE (Dispersion of Air Pollution and Penetration into the Local Environment; www.dapple.org.uk ) 2007 field campaign. The data reported here were collected using ultrasonic anemometers on the roof-top of a building adjacent to the intersection and at two heights on a pair of lamp-posts on opposite sides of the intersection. Site characteristics, data analysis and the variation of intersection flow with the above-roof wind direction (θ _ref ) are discussed. Evidence of both flow channelling and recirculation was identified within the canyon, only a few metres from the intersection for along-street and across-street roof-top winds respectively. Results also indicate that for oblique roof-top flows, the intersection flow is a complex combination of bifurcated channelled flows, recirculation and corner vortices. Asymmetries in local building geometry around the intersection and small changes in the background wind direction (changes in 15- min mean θ _ref of 5°–10°) were also observed to have profound influences on the behaviour of intersection flow patterns. Consequently, short time-scale variability in the background flow direction can lead to highly scattered in-street mean flow angles masking the true multi-modal features of the flow and thus further complicating modelling challenges.     

Temperature dependence of photoluminescence emission characteristics in a natural fluorite

Summary The temperature dependence of photoluminescence emission of a natural fluorite has been studied in the wavelength region of 380–500 nm and in the temperature range of 17.5–300 K. The emission spectra of the sample show a broad emission band between 380 and 500 nm for temperatures above 100 K. At 100 K and below, vibronic lines appear on the emission band at approximately 413.3, 418.1, 419.3, 420.2, 423.9 and 427.1 nm. This broad emission band and the vibronic lines in fluorite are usually associated with phonon-coupled electronic transitions from 4f⁶5d to 4f⁷ in the Eu²⁺ ion. Temperature dependences of the peak energy, intensity and full-width at half-maximum of the broad emission band are discussed, and the behaviour explained in terms of a configurational coordinate model. The excited state vibrational energy was obtained to be 0.023 ± 0.001 eV and this is lower than the LO phonon energy of 0.062 eV in pure fluorite. The activation energy of thermal quenching of the photoluminescence intensity was found to be 0.022 ± 0.002 eV.