Typhoon Vortex Self-Organization in a Baroclinic Environment

Self-organization of typhoon vortex in a baroclinic environment is studied based on eight numerical experiments with the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University/National Center for Atmospheric Research （PSU/NCAR） Mesoscale Model （MM5）. The results show that, when there are only two 400-km-away mesoscale axisymmetric vortices with a radius of 500 km in the initial field, the two vortices move away from each other during co-rotating till the distance between them greater than a critical distance named co-rotating critical distance. Then, they stop co-rotating. The situation is changed when a small vortex with a radius of 80 kin is introduced in between the two vortices in the initial field, with the two initially separated vortices approaching each other during their co-rotation, and finally self-organizing into a typhoon-like vortex consisting of an inner core and spiral bands. This result supports both Zhou Xiuji＇s view in 1994 and the studies in the barotropic framework concerning the interactions between the same and different scales of vortices. Six other experiments are carried out to study the effects of the initial vortex parameters, including the initial position of the small-scale vortex, the distance and intensity of the initially axisymmetric binary mesoscale vortices. It is found that the distance between the initial axisymmetrie mesoscale vortices is the most important parameter that influences the self-organizing process of the final typhoon-like vortex. This conclusion is similar to that obtained from barotropical model experiments.     

空间统计与智能分析国际研讨会召开

日前,空间统计与智能．分析国际研讨会在武汉大学隆重召开。武汉大学测绘遥感信息工程国家重点实验室龚健雅主任,美国科学院院士、亚利桑那州立大学Luc Anselin教授,美国密歇根大学鲍曙明教授等出席。     

USGS：未来50年美国西北海岸或将发生大地震

2012年7月,美国地质调查局（USGS）发布由俄勒冈州立大学科学家撰写的研究报告：《浊流沉积事件史——卡斯卡迪亚断层带全新世古地震的研究方法与启示》（Turbi-dite Event History－Methods and Implica-tions for Holocene Paleoseismieity of the Cascadia Subduction Zone）。     

The key indicators of transboundary water apportionment based on international laws and cases

Transboundary water, more competitive utilization and uncertain availability under the globalization trend, the issue of its apportionment which directly impacts national benefits of each riparian state is becoming one of the important topics in the world. Water is scarce in China, the most important upstream state in Asia, and this task has to be thought over in the coming future. Based on ＂International Freshwater Treaties Database＂ （1820-2007） by Oregon State University, and publications and reports on transboundary water utilization and management since 1999, 28 indicators of water apportionment adopted in 49 international treaties and cases in 1864-2002 are divided into 6 types, the spatial and temporal characteristics of the adopted indicators are analyzed in order to find the key indicator（s） of transboundary water apportionment. The major results include： the major adopted indicators, have significant differences among 5 regions/continents, the indicators at rank first and second place in the developed region （North America and Europe） according to the adopted times are ＂keeping minimum water flow＂ and ＂mean annual runoff＂, but in the developing region （Asia, Africa and South America）, the ranking order of the above two indicators is reversed; the major adopted indicators in the watersheds with insufficient water are ＂mean annual runoff＂ and ＂keeping minimum water flow＂, the ones in the watersheds with sufficient water are ＂keeping minimum water flow＂ and ＂maximum water intake＂; the international treaties signed from the first phase to the fourth phase, the developing process shows a progress of ＂fewer-increasing a lot-decreasing rapidly-equation basically＂, the regional distribution of the treaties shifts mainly from the developed region to the developing one, especially to Asia and Africa; the major adopted indicators shifts from ＂keeping minimum water flow＂ and ＂mean annual runoff＂ in 1864-1945, to ＂keeping minimum water flow＂ and ＂maximum water intake＂ in 1946-1971, then to ＂hydraulic facility operation＂ and ＂mean annual runoff＂ in 1972-1991, and finally to ＂keeping minimum water flow＂ and ＂mean annual runoff＂ in 1992-2002, the process shows similar a loop. Finally, the key indicator on transboundary water apportionment can be determined as ＂keeping minimum water flow＂.     

研究人员发明研究地裂的新方法

日前,美国博伊西州立大学研究人员开创了一种研究地裂的新方法,该方法采用高强度光源直接聚焦于裂隙而产生弹性波来研究地裂。通常情况下,科学家在地表发射声波是为了探测来自地面裂缝的回声。而该研究则取代了仅在样本表面激发超声波的方法,直接在地裂地点聚焦脉冲红外激光束,将之转变为超声波源。     

研究发现:碳排放到大气中的速率比过去快10倍

一个国际地质学家研究小组指出,目前碳排放到大气中的速率几乎比距今5 590万年前的*古新世/始新世极热时期(Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum)快10倍,这是人类对当前全球变暖的最好模拟。这一速率的快速变化不太可能给生态环境足够的时间来适应。     

青岛市气象局代表团赴美考察总结

近几年来,青岛市气象局为2008年奥帆赛气象服务做了大量准备工作,通过2006、2007年青岛国际帆船赛气象服务的实战演练,我们深感在海洋气象预报方法和服务经验方面还存在不足,尤其对奥帆赛气象服务,目前缺乏海上有效的精细化风的预报方法。2007年下半年,青岛市气象局就奥帆赛场浮标站逐时风的解释应用方法研究与美国北卡罗来纳州立大学建立了合作关系。2008年2月24Et至3月2Et,青岛市气象局代表团一行5人在杨育强副局长的带领下,对美国北卡罗来纳州立大学（以下简称北卡州立大学）和美国大气科学研究中心（NCAR）进行了访问,并就相关的预报技术问题进行了充分的交流,与北卡州立大学就双方的合作进展和下一步计划进行了商谈。现将有关情况汇报如下。     

THE THEORY OF MOIST POTENTIAL VORTICITY AND ITS APPLICATION IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF TYPHOON RAINFALL AND INTENSITY

This paper tests the impacts of cloud-induced mass forcing on the moist potential vorticity (MPV) anomaly associated with torrential rains caused by Typhoon No.9914 (Dan) by using fine model simulation data outputted by the Fifth-Generation NCAR / Penn State Mesoscale Model (MM5). The diagnostic results show that the positive MPV anomaly region, which is obtained by integrating the MPV from 600 hPa to 300 hPa in the vertical, roughly coincides with the precipitation at their synchronous stages either in position or in the distribution pattern, and the maximum positive MPV area of Dan is located mainly between 600 hPa and 300 hPa, which is much higher than torrential rain cases. Further analyses also showed that the value of positive MPV anomaly increased or decreased with the development of Dan, and the positive MPV anomaly may also be served as a tracer to indicate the evolution of tropical cyclone intensity.     

The Structure of Background-error Covariance in a Four-dimensional Variational Data Assimilation System: Single-point Experiment

A four dimensional variational data assimilation (4DVar) based on a dimension-reduced projection (DRP-4DVar) has been developed as a hybrid of the 4DVar and Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) concepts. Its good flow-dependent features are demonstrated in single-point experiments through comparisons with adjoint-based 4DVar and three-dimensional variational data (3DVar) assimilations using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University-National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5). The results reveal that DRP-4DVar can reasonably generate a background error covariance matrix (simply B-matrix) during the assimilation window from an initial estimation using a number of initial condition dependent historical forecast samples. In contrast, flow-dependence in the B-matrix of MM5 4DVar is barely detectable. It is argued that use of diagonal estimation in the B-matrix of the MM5 4DVar method at the initial time leads to this failure. The experiments also show that the increments produced by DRP-4DVar are anisotropic and no longer symmetric with respect to observation location due to the effects of the weather trends captured in its B-matrix. This differs from the MM5 3DVar which does not consider the influence of heterogeneous forcing on the correlation structure of the B-matrix, a condition that is realistic for many situations. Thus, the MM5 3DVar assimilation could only present an isotropic and homogeneous structure in its increments.     

“身兼数职”的饥饿激素

美国德克萨斯州立大学西南医学中心的科学家们现在似乎可以解释：为什么一些人在精神压力增大时会将注意力转向食物，结果导致进食过量。科学家们发现，当一个人的精神压力增大时。其体内的“饥饿激素”ghrelin的水平会增大；他的进食量随之增加，从而可能会引发肥胖。但是，ghrelin水平升高有一个好处：由精神压力引发的抑郁和焦虑的症状会减轻。这项研究的带头人的迈克尔·鲁特博士说：“从我们的研究中可以看出．饥饿激素同时发挥着几个作用；它协调着精神压力引发的各类行为．进而改变着情绪、压力和能量水平。”