Rainfall estimation in the Sahel: the EPSAT-NIGER experiment

Abstract

EPSAT-NIGER (Estimation of Precipitation by SATellite—NIGER experiment) has been designed to improve the understanding of the precipitation systems of Sudano-Sahelian Africa and to develop operational rainfall estimation algorithms for this region. It is based on the combined use of a very dense raingauge network (93 gauges over a study area of 16 000 km₂) and a C-band weather radar system. The experiment is scheduled to last three years, 1990–1992. The network pattern, a regular grid with nodes spaced at 12.5 km and a 16 gauge target area where the distance between stations is decreased to 1 km, has allowed for some preliminary studies on the rainfall distribution at various space and time scales. Whereas the long term average rainfall gradient is uniform, rainfall increasing north to south, a single rainy season can be markedly different. The local variability may be extremely large. That variability is enhanced at smaller sampling time steps and the computation of reference areal rainfall for satellite imagery validation is extremely sensitive to the design of the ground-based validation system. The joint processing of gauge and radar data has led to the identification of a few typical features of the drop size distribution of the African squall lines, which could lead to deriving specific algorithms for radar calibration in this region. The data provided by EPSAT-NIGER will be used in various international projects for the assessment of water input from the atmosphere to the continent over the Sahel.     

Atmospheric anomalies in summer 1908: Water in the atmosphere

A gigantic noctilucent cloud field was formed and different solar halos were observed after the Tunguska catastrophe. To explain these anomalous phenomena, it is necessary to assume that a large quantity of water was carried into the atmosphere, which indicates that the Tunguska cosmic body was of a comet origin. According to rough estimates, the quantity of water that is released into the atmosphere as a result of a cosmic body’s destruction is more than 10¹⁰ kg. The observation of a flying object in an area with a radius of ≥700 km makes it possible to state that the Tunguska cosmic body looked like a luminous coma with a diameter not smaller than ≥10 km and became visible at heights of >500 km. The assumption that the Tunguska cosmic body started disintegrating at a height of ∼1000 km explains the formation of an area where its mater diffused and formed a luminous area above Europe.     

Stars in stone: the Annenberg Courtyard fountains

The transformation of the courtyard at Burlington House involves more than just new paving. Margaret Penston explains the astronomical theme that underpins the design and layout of the fountains and lighting.     

Soil erosion in the Anthropocene: Research needs

Soil erosion is a geomorphological and, at the same time, a land degradation process that may cause environmental and property damage, loss of livelihoods and services as well as social and economic disruption. Erosion not only lowers soil quality on‐site, but causes also significant sediment‐related problems off‐site. Given the large number of research papers on this topic, one might therefore conclude that we know now almost everything about soil erosion and its control so that little new knowledge can be added. This conclusion can be refuted by pointing to some major research gaps. There is a need for more research attention to (1) improved understanding of both natural and anthropogenic soil erosion processes and their interactions, (2) scaling up soil erosion processes and rates in space and time, and (3) innovative techniques and strategies to prevent soil erosion or reduce erosion rates. This is illustrated with various case studies from around the world. If future research addresses these research gaps, we will (1) better understand processes and their interactions operating at a range of spatial and temporal scales, predict their rates as well as their on‐site and off‐site impacts, which is academically spoken rewarding but also crucial for better targeting erosion control measures, and (2) we will be in a better position to select the most appropriate and effective soil erosion control techniques and strategies which are highly necessary for a sustainable use of soils in the Anthropocene. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strong earthquakes in the Pribaikalie: Macroseismic data

In this work the data on earthquakes in the Pribaikalie over the pre-instrumental observation period are given. The methods of determination of local and remote earthquakes with limited information of macroseismic effects are considered. A lists of strong (M ≥ 5) earthquakes in the southern Pribaikalie, as well as a list all earthquakes in the Southeastern Transbaikalian and the South of the Siberian platform, is given.     

Metaphors and models: the ASR bubble in the Floridan aquifer

Studies at the intersection of cognitive science and linguistics have revealed the crucial role that metaphors play in shaping our thoughts about phenomena we cannot see. According to the domains interaction theory of cognition, a metaphoric expression sets up mappings between a target domain that we wish to understand and a familiar source domain. The source domain contains elements ("commonplaces") that we manipulate mentally, like parts of an analogue model, to illuminate the target domain. This paper applies the structure of domains interaction theory to analyze the dynamics of a metaphor in hydrogeology: the so-called bubble formed by water injected into an aquifer during aquifer storage and recovery (ASR). Of the four commonplaces of bubbles--(1) they are discrete; (2) they are geometrically simple; (3) they rise; and (4) they burst--we focus on the first two using both displacement and dispersion (tracer) models for both homogeneous and heterogeneous storage zones patterned from geological studies of the Suwannee Limestone of Sarasota County, Florida. The displacement model easily shows that "bottle brush" better represents the geometric complexity predicted from the known and inferred heterogeneity. There is virtually no difference, however, in the prediction of recovery efficiency using the dispersion model for a bubble (homogeneous flow zone) vs. bottle brush (heterogeneous flow zone). On the other hand, only the bottle brush reveals that unrecovered tracer is located preferentially in the low-permeability layers that lie adjacent to high-permeability channels in the flow zones.     

Silicic phreatomagmatism in the Snake River Plain: the Deadeye Member

Non-welded rhyolitic pyroclastic units in the central Snake River Plain are interbedded with the much better exposed, large-volume ‘Snake-River type’ rheomorphic welded rhyolitic ignimbrites and rhyolite lavas. We document one such unit to investigate why it is so different from the interbedded welded ignimbrites. The newly recognised Deadeye Member of southern Idaho is a soil-bounded eruption-unit that comprises ashfall layers and a 4-m-thick ignimbrite that extends for >35 km. The ignimbrite is non-welded, lithic-clast poor and varies from massive to diffuse low-angle cross-bedded. It contains abundant angular clasts of non-vesicular black glass, and upper parts contain accretionary lapilli. The ashfall layers above it contain coated ash pellets and ash clumps, which record moist aggregation of fine ash. The magmas of the Deadeye eruption were closely similar in composition and temperature to those that generated the intensely welded rheomorphic ignimbrites of the central Snake River Plain. We infer that the marked contrast in physical appearance of the Deadeye ignimbrite compared to the other, more typical Snake-River-type welded ignimbrites was the result of emplacement at relatively low temperatures during an eruption in a lacustrine environment. Magmatic volatile-driven fragmentation of the rhyolitic magma was influenced by interaction with lake water that also led to cooling. The Deadeye Member is the first-recorded example of explosive silicic phreatomagmatism in the central Snake River Plain.     

地震前兆：电离层F2层异常

本文简述了目前提出的地震引起电离层异常扰动的物理机理，重点介绍了近几年国内外对震前F2层异常扰动的研究进展.大量的研究结果显示地震活动引起的电离层扰动不仅确实存在，而且在震级大于5级的地震发生前的几天到几个小时会发生电离层扰动.由于地震引起的电离层F2层变化具有独一无二的特性，这就意味着我们可以利用强震前的F2层异常变化作为地震短临预报的工具.     

Plagioclase ultraphyric basalts in Iceland: the mush of the rift

Glassy, plagioclase ultraphyric basalts from six locations in Iceland have bimodal phenocryst size distributions where microphenocrysts (ol+plg±cpx±mt) are in equilibrium with the matrix glass, but macrophenocrysts (ol+plg±cpx) are too primitive to be so. Matrix glass compositions are similar to those of other rift zone glasses from Iceland, and oxygen isotope variations suggest they interacted with the Icelandic crust. A lack of negative Eu-anomalies in matrix glasses precludes large amounts of plagioclase crystallisation from their parental liquids. Compositions of glass inclusions in plagioclase and olivine macrophenocrysts indicate that parental magma compositions of the macrophenocryst assemblage are similar to those of primitive, Icelandic rift zone glasses. Temperatures for plagioclase macrophenocryst crystallisation obtained from Linkam^® heating stage experiments, and from glass inclusion compositions corrected for post-entrapment crystallisation, give temperatures up to 1260°C, corresponding to crystallisation at middle to deep crustal levels. Temperature differences of less than 100°C between plagioclase-hosted glass inclusions before and after post-entrapment plagioclase crystallisation show that the macrophenocrysts must have been kept at elevated temperatures prior to incorporation in their present host magmas. We suggest that the macrophenocrysts of the plagioclase ultraphyric basalts accumulated in crystal mush bodies underneath the rift zone and were picked up by their present hosts during a rifting event with increased magma supply from the mantle.     

Nanoscience and technology: the next revolution in the Earth sciences

Nanoscience and technology are not exactly new, but nevertheless rapidly expanding fields that are providing revolutions in all sciences on the scale of what genomics and proteomics have done in recent years for the biological sciences. Nanoscience is based on the fact that properties of materials change as a function of the physical dimension of that material, and nanotechnology takes advantage of this by applying selected property modifications of this nature to some beneficial endeavor. The prefix ‘nano’ is used because the property dependence on physical size is generally observed close to the nanoscale, somewhere around 10⁻⁹ m. The dimensions at which changes are observed depend on the specific material and the property in question, as well as which of the three dimensions are restricted in real space (e.g. small particles vs. thin films vs. ‘one-dimensional’ phases). Properties change in these confined spaces because the electronic structure (i.e. the distribution of electron energies) of the material is modified here in the gray area between the bulk and atomistic/molecular realms, or equivalently between the continuum and strictly quantum domains. Earth materials with at least one dimension in the nanorange are essentially ubiquitous. Many have been known for several decades and more are being discovered all the time. But the scientific emphasis has now shifted to that of measuring, understanding and ultimately predicting the property changes from the bulk to nanodomains, and to the understanding of the significant ways that Earth processes are affected by these changes. In addition, where possible, Earth scientists are using nanoscience to develop nanotechnology that should play important roles in Earth sustainability issues of the future.     

Erosional power in the Swiss Alps: characterization of slope failure in the Illgraben

Landslides and rockfalls are key geomorphic processes in mountain basins. Their quantification and characterization are critical for understanding the processes of slope failure and their contributions to erosion and landscape evolution. We used digital photogrammetry to produce a multi‐temporal record of erosion (1963–2005) of a rock slope at the head of the Illgraben, a very active catchment prone to debris flows in Switzerland. Slope failures affect 70% of the study slope and erode the slope at an average rate of 0.39 ± 0.03 m yr¯¹. The analysis of individual slope failures yielded an inventory of ~2500 failures ranging over 6 orders of magnitude in volume, despite the small slope area and short study period. The slope failures form a characteristic magnitude–frequency distribution with a rollover and a power‐law tail between ~200 m³ and 1.6 × 10⁶ m³ with an exponent of 1.65. Slope failure volume scales with area as a power law with an exponent of 1.1. Both values are low for studies of bedrock landslides and rockfall and result from the highly fractured and weathered state of the quartzitic bedrock. Our data suggest that the magnitude–frequency distribution is the result of two separate slope failure processes. Type (1) failures are frequent, small slides and slumps within the weathered layer of highly fractured rock and loose sediment, and make up the rollover. Type (2) failures are less frequent and larger rockslides and rockfalls within the internal bedded and fractured slope along pre‐determined potential failure surfaces, and make up the power‐law tail. Rockslides and rockfalls of high magnitude and relatively low frequency make up 99% of the total failure volume and are thus responsible for the high erosion rate. They are also significant in the context of landscape evolution as they occur on slopes above 45° and limit the relief of the slope. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shelf-basin exchange in the Laptev Sea in the warming climate: a model study

GCM-based forecast simulations predict continuously increasing seasonality of the sea ice cover and an almost ice-free, summer-time, Arctic Ocean within several decades from the present. In this study we use a primitive equation ocean model: NEMO, coupled with the sea ice model LIM2, to test the hypothesis that under such an increased range in seasonal ice cover the intensity of shelf-basin water exchange will significantly increase. We use the simulated results for the Laptev Sea from a global model run 1958–2007 and compare results for two years with anomalously high and low summer sea ice extents: 1986–1987 and 2006–2007. The shelf–basin fluxes of volume, heat and salt during specific seasons are evaluated and attributed to plausible driving processes, with particular attention to dense water cascading. Analyses of the model temperature distribution at the depth of the intermediate maximum, associated with Atlantic Water, have shown a marked increase of the amount of the local origin cold water in late winter 2007 in the region, where dense water typically appears as a result of its formation on the shelf and subsequent downslope leakage. Calculation of the shelf-basin exchange during March-May in both years confirmed a substantial increase (a factor of two) of fluxes in “ice-free” 2007 compared to the “icy” 1987. According to several past model studies, dense water production on Arctic shelves in winter driven by ice freezing and brine rejection is not likely to cease in a warmer climate, but rather to increase. There is also observational evidence that cascading in the seasonally ice covered seas (e.g. the Barents Sea) is much more efficient than it is in the permanently ice covered Arctic Ocean, which supports these model results.     

Bacteria in the Tatahouine meteorite: nanometric-scale life in rocks.

We present a study of the textural signature of terrestrial weathering and related biological activity in the Tatahouine meteorite. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy images obtained on the weathered samples of the Tatahouine meteorite and surrounding soil show two types of bacteria-like forms lying on mineral surfaces: (1) rod-shaped forms (RSF) about 70-80 nm wide and ranging from 100 nm to 600 nm in length; (2) ovoid forms (OVF) with diameters between 70 and 300 nm. They look like single cells surrounded by a cell wall. Only Na, K, C, O and N with traces of P and S are observed in the bulk of these objects. The chemical analyses and electron diffraction patterns confirm that the RSF and OVF cannot be magnetite or other iron oxides, iron hydroxides, silicates or carbonates. The sizes of the RSF and OVF are below those commonly observed for bacteria but are very similar to some bacteria-like forms described in the Martian meteorite ALH84001. All the previous observations strongly suggest that they are bacteria or their remnants. This conclusion is further supported by microbiological experiments in which pleomorphic bacteria with morphology similar to the OVF and RSF objects are obtained from biological culture of the soil surrounding the meteorite pieces. The present results show that bacteriomorphs of diameter less than 100 nm may in fact represent real bacteria or their remnants.     

大陆边缘热状态研究进展

热流与岩石圈热状态是大陆边缘构造研究的重要课题,其研究不仅能为探讨发生在大陆边缘的物理、化学和生物过程提供地热约束,而且还能为深水油气资源评价和勘探提供依据.近年来,随着对海底过程研究的深入和对能源资源问题的关注,大陆边缘热状态研究取得了新认识,特别是,主动大陆边缘弧后地区高热流的认识及成因机制以及被动大陆边缘洋陆过渡带可能存在的高热流异常等这些重要发现,进一步丰富和完善了大陆边缘热状态的认识.本文总结了近年来大陆边缘热流研究进展,重点讨论了主动大陆边缘岛弧弧后地区热状态和部分被动大陆边缘发现的高热流异常,前者一般被认为是与弧后地区岩石圈之下的浅地幔对流有关;而后者既包括来自浅层地壳生热贡献,也有深部地幔热流所致,一些学者将此归因于小尺度地幔对流或岩石圈厚度差异引发的边界效应,仍存争议.我们还分析了探针热流、钻孔热流和BSR热流等不同类型数据的优缺点,指出钻孔热流和BSR热流成为继传统探针热流之后研究大陆边缘热流的有效手段.在海底热流和近海底过程之间相互响应的基础上,强调热流探测对近海底过程研究的贡献.还对比了国内外热状态的研究,探讨了国内研究与国际的差距.最后,就未来大陆边缘热状态研究提出了几点建议.     

Atmospheric anomalies in the summer of 1908: Skyglow

After the Tunguska catastrophe, the region of “white nights” extended southwards as far down as ∼42°N at some locations. Impressive sunsets, colored in all shades of the solar spectrum were observed in the territory of Europe and some parts of Asia from 47 to 60°N. These phenomena can be explained by the reflection of sunlight from the internal (Earth-facing) surface of the noctilucent cloud field ∼10 mln km² in area. The reflective surface of the noctilucent cloud field after the Tunguska catastrophe was estimated to be by a factor of 104 larger than the reflective surface of usual noctilucent clouds.