Microphysical characteristics of rainfall during different seasons over a coastal tropical station using disdrometer

Drop size distribution (DSD) over the tropical region exhibit pronounced variations during different monsoon seasons. Measurements from an impact type Joss–Waldovgel disdrometer is used for characterization of drop size distribution and its integral parameters over a tropical coastal station (Thiruvananthapuram, 8.31°N, 76.54°E, 20 m asl). Rain events were identified during the winter, premonsoon, summer monsoon and postmonsoon seasons from 8 years, computed rain duration (min) and accumulated rain water (mm). Rain intensity (mm h^?1), mean drop diameter (D_m, mm) and total number concentration of raindrops (N_T, m^?3) were calculated on each sampling interval and classified in to different bins. The different range bins of rain intensity and their relative contributions towards total rainfall are different for different seasons. Maximum events were reported on the R2 (heavy drizzle/light rain) type, but the contribution of rainfall (mm) is mainly registered on R4 (heavy rain) type. Similarly, the N_T and D_m are also showing different characteristics during different monsoon seasons. Frequency of occurrence of D_m is higher in D_m2 (1–2 mm) followed by D_m1 (D_m < 1 mm) and then D_m3 (2–3 mm) with difference in magnitudes for different seasons. On analysing relative rainfall contribution from different mean diameter bins, it can be observed that D_m2 and D_m3 (1–3 mm) are the major contributors to the total rainfall. In the case of N_T, both frequency and accumulated water are almost same or comparable for the different bins during all the seasons. The D_m and N_T are positively related with different intensity bins. The lower rainfall intensity bins show higher duration during the summer monsoon season and lower duration during the premonsoon season, the higher intensity range bins show lower duration for the premonsoon season and higher duration for the postmonsoon season.     

Evaluation of energetic particle parameters in the near-Earth magnetotail derived from flux asymmetry observations

The flux asymmetries measured by spectrometers on board spacecraft contain information on particle parameters. The net flux intensity (NFI) method provides a tool to evaluate these parameters. The NFI method is valid when both the spin period of the spacecraft and the time resolution of the particle spectrometers are much shorter than the characteristic time-scale of the particle flux variations. We apply the NFI analysis to the flux asymmetry measurements made by GEOS 2 at the nightside geosynchronous orbit in the late substorm growth phase. The cross-tail current of energetic ions, their pressure gradient and average drift velocity, as well as a field-aligned flows are investigated. Current disruption at substorm onset and the –convection surge mechanism during dipolarization of the magnetic field are directly observed.     

Latitudinal and seasonal variability of the micrometeor input function: A study using model predictions and observations from Arecibo and PFISR

In this work, we use a semi-empirical model of the micrometeor input function (MIF) together with meteor head-echo observations obtained with two high power and large aperture (HPLA) radars, the 430 MHz Arecibo Observatory (AO) radar in Puerto Rico (18°N, 67°W) and the 450 MHz Poker flat incoherent scatter radar (PFISR) in Alaska (65°N, 147°W), to study the seasonal and geographical dependence of the meteoric flux in the upper atmosphere. The model, recently developed by Janches et al. [2006a. Modeling the global micrometeor input function in the upper atmosphere observed by high power and large aperture radars. Journal of Geophysical Research 111] and Fentzke and Janches [2008. A semi-empirical model of the contribution from sporadic meteoroid sources on the meteor input function observed at arecibo. Journal of Geophysical Research (Space Physics) 113 (A03304)], includes an initial mass flux that is provided by the six known meteor sources (i.e. orbital families of dust) as well as detailed modeling of meteoroid atmospheric entry and ablation physics. In addition, we use a simple ionization model to treat radar sensitivity issues by defining minimum electron volume density production thresholds required in the meteor head-echo plasma for detection. This simplified approach works well because we use observations from two radars with similar frequencies, but different sensitivities and locations. This methodology allows us to explore the initial input of particles and how it manifests in different parts of the MLT as observed by these instruments without the need to invoke more sophisticated plasma models, which are under current development. The comparisons between model predictions and radar observations show excellent agreement between diurnal, seasonal, and latitudinal variability of the detected meteor rate and radial velocity distributions, allowing us to understand how individual meteoroid populations contribute to the overall flux at a particular location and season.     

由非相干散射雷达数据重建极光沉降粒子能谱

本文研究了由极区地面雷达电子密度高度剖面测量数据重建极光沉降粒子能谱的基本原理和方法.在4～30 keV能量范围内,重建结果与FAST卫星实测数在数值水平和变化趋势上基本吻合;在地磁平静和磁暴期间,重建获得能谱特征与前人研究结果相一致.该方法开辟了获取沉降粒子能谱特征的一条新途径,可以弥补卫星能量粒子观测数据磁地方时分辨率的不足,对于建立空间环境扰动模式具有重要的学术意义和应用价值.     

亚热带地区发育于不同母岩风化壳上的红壤磁学特征对比及其环境意义

本研究对发育于亚热带地区花岗岩和变质岩风化壳之上的两个红壤剖面进行了系统的环境磁学测量及色度分析,探讨在同一地区不同母质上发育的红壤磁性差异的原因及其环境意义.研究区的两个剖面分别位于福建省南平市高铁北站和纺织厂附近,相距约15 km,气候条件基本相同.研究结果表明：（1）较强磁性的花岗岩母质层上发育的南平北站红壤（NPN）,在发育过程因母质层中多畴（MD）颗粒磁赤铁矿化的磁铁矿溶解,剖面上部的淋溶层和淀积层虽以较细的稳定单畴（SSD）颗粒和少量的假单畴（PSD）颗粒磁铁矿为主,但剖面磁性自下而上减弱.相较而言,南纺红壤（NF）剖面发育在磁性较弱的变质砂岩上,其过渡层和母质层以赤铁矿为主,因成壤过程中生成较细的超顺磁（SP）磁铁矿使得土壤淋溶层和淀积层磁性增强;说明母质不同是亚热带地区红壤磁性差异的主要原因.（2）NPN和NF两个剖面的气候条件基本相同,磁性差异比色度指标差异更为显著.亚热带地区因剖面受母质影响显著,整体磁性特征不能反映气候;黄度和红度的比值（b^*/a^*）远小于磁性的差异,说明针铁矿和赤铁矿的比值更能反映研究区的平均气候状况,即反映次生磁性矿物含量的参数为更适合的气候指标.

     

Detection of zero anisotropy at 5.2 AU during the November 1998 solar particle event: Ulysses Anisotropy Telescopes observations

For the first time during the mission, the Anisotropy Telescopes instrument on board the Ulysses spacecraft measured constant zero anisotropy of protons in the 1.3/2.2 MeV energy range, for a period lasting more than three days. This measurement was made during the energetic particle event taking place at Ulysses between 25 November and 15 December 1998, an event characterised by constant high proton fluxes within a region delimited by two interplanetary forward shocks, at a distance of 5.2 AU from the Sun and heliographic latitude of 17°S. We present the ATs results for this event and discuss their possible interpretation and their relevance to the issue of intercalibration of the two telescopes.     

新疆艾比湖流域枯、丰水期三维荧光光谱特性及其与水质的关系

以艾比湖流域主要入湖河流为研究对象,在5月（丰水期）和8月（枯水期）分别沿博尔塔拉河（博河）和精河进行采样,采用平行因子模型（PARAFAC）和三维荧光区域积分法对水体三维荧光特性进行研究并对其与水质的关系在枯、丰水期下的变化进行探讨.结果表明①河流DOM在枯水期与丰水期都含有C1（240、425 nm） UVC类腐殖质,C2（225、290 nm）紫外区内络氨酸类有机物,C3（230/280、330 nm）蛋白类有机物,C4（265、260 nm）腐殖质类共4种组分.通过对水体三维荧光进行区域积分可以看出DOM荧光成分的占比在不同时期的变化.博河在枯水期时EEM光谱中的区域Ⅲ富里酸含量低于丰水期,枯水期时区域Ⅱ芳香类蛋白质、区域Ⅳ可溶性微生物代谢物以及区域Ⅴ类腐殖质酸高于丰水期;对于精河来说,区域Ⅱ芳香类蛋白质和区域Ⅳ可溶性微生物代谢物在枯水期的含量高于丰水期,区域Ⅲ富里酸和区域Ⅴ类腐殖质酸的含量枯水期低于丰水期,这表明水体腐质化程度较高.②本研究选取了一些常规的荧光指数来描述枯、丰水期水体的荧光指数特性.经研究发现,精河的荧光指数、自生源指数和腐殖化指数在不同时期的变化幅度较小,而博河的变化幅度较大.③将荧光指数与水质参数进行相关性分析并建模,结果表明枯水期自生源指数（BIX）与化学需氧量呈显著正相关,相关系数R=0.688;丰水期时BIX与铵态氮浓度呈显著负相关,相关系数R=-0.493.通过对比分析艾比湖主要入湖河流的三维荧光光谱特性与水质在枯、丰水期时的关系进一步表明水体中DOM的特性以及在枯、丰水期下的差异,为艾比湖流域的治理改善提供一定的理论支持和参考依据.     

Runout analysis of a large rockfall in the Dolomites/Italian Alps using LIDAR derived particle sizes and shapes

LiDAR data were used to quantify and analyse a rockfall event which occurred in 2003 in the Western Dolomites (Italian Alps). In addition to previously existing airborne laserscanning (ALS) data, high resolution terrestrial laserscanning (TLS) data were collected. By using the original point clouds, the volume, axial ratio and runout length of single boulders as well as the surface roughness in the runout zone of the rockfall were derived. The total volume of the rockfall event of approximately 10 000 m³ was estimated by a reconstruction of the pre‐event surface at the detachment zone. The analysis of the laser scanning data of the accumulation zone revealed a power law scaling for boulder volumes larger than 8 m³. The dependence of runout length on boulder volume is complex; it is moderated by particle sphericity. In addition, we used ALS and TLS data to derive the spatial distribution of surface roughness on the talus cone. TLS allow for more accurate roughness mapping than ALS data, but for most applications the point density of ALS data seems to be sufficiently high to derive measures of roughness. Different sampling approaches for plane fitting on the scale of 5 m did not show significant effects besides the computational time. The results of our analyses provide important perspectives for rockfall modelling and process understanding with potential applications in both ‘applied’ (natural hazards) and ‘pure’ geomorphological research. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Field experiments constraining the probability distribution of particle travel distances during natural rainstorms on different slope gradients

Rain splash erosion is an important soil transport mechanism on steep hillslopes. The rain splash process is highly stochastic; here we seek to constrain the probability distribution of splash transport distances on natural hillslopes as a function of hillslope gradient and total precipitation depth. Field experiments were conducted under natural precipitation events to observe splash travel on varying slope gradients. The downslope fraction of splash transport on 15°, 25° and 33° gradients were 85%, 96% and 96%, respectively. Maximum splash transport (L_max) was related to the rain splash detachment of soil particles and slope gradient. An empirical relationship of L_max to the precipitation depth and gradient was obtained; it is linearly proportional to hillslope gradient and logarithmically related to precipitation depth. Measured splash distances were calibrated to the fully two‐dimensional (2D) model of splash transport of Furbish et al. (Journal of Geophysical Research 112 : F01001, 2007) that is based on the assumption that radial splash distances are exponentially distributed; calibrated values of mean splash transport distances are an order of magnitude greater than those previously determined in a controlled laboratory setting. We also compared measured data with several one‐dimensional (1D) probability distributions to asses if splash transport distances could be better explained by a heavy‐tailed probability distribution rather than an exponential probability distribution. We find that for hillslopes of 15° and 25°, although a log‐normal probability distribution best describes the data, we find its likelihood is nearly indistinguishable from an exponential distribution based on computing maximum likelihood estimators for all 1D distributions (exponential, log‐normal and Weibull). At 33°, however, we find stronger evidence that measured travel distances are heavy‐tailed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

近30年长江下游升金湖湿地不同季节景观生态风险时空分析

以安徽省升金湖湿地为研究对象,使用1989年、1996年、2003年、2010年和2017年四季Landsat系列遥感数据,构建景观生态风险评价模型,计算不同季节景观生态风险指数,分析风险空间分布及其变化特征,并使用Pearson相关系数分析季节间、季节与年度间景观生态风险相关性.结果显示:(1)不同季节景观生态风险指数有显著差异,生态风险从高到低依次为夏季、冬季、秋季和春季,夏、冬季风险指数平均高出春、秋季37.03%.(2) 1989—2017年升金湖湿地景观生态风险指数明显增加,湖区内泥滩、草滩等重要景观类型极易受人类活动影响,逐渐由中风险、较高风险区转变成较高风险、高风险区,且人造表面与草滩面积与较高风险和高风险区面积呈现出一定的协同变化特征.总体上,升金湖湿地以较低景观生态风险和中景观生态风险为主,较高景观生态风险与高景观生态风险主要位于上、下湖区.(3)季节间景观生态风险相关性最高的为秋季与冬季;年度生态风险与冬季生态风险高度相关.因此,近30年升金湖不同季节湿地景观生态风险时空演变趋势体现了该湿地景观格局变化对景观生态系统干扰的压力响应,且秋季与冬季湖区湿地需引起高度重视.     

Improving the spatial representation of soil properties and hydrology using topographically derived initialization processes in the SWAT model

Topography exerts critical controls on many hydrologic, geomorphologic and biophysical processes. However, many watershed modelling systems use topographic data only to define basin boundaries and stream channels, neglecting opportunities to account for topographic controls on processes such as soil genesis, soil moisture distributions and hydrological response. Here, we demonstrate a method that uses topographic data to adjust spatial soil morphologic and hydrologic attributes: texture, depth to the C‐horizon, saturated conductivity, bulk density, porosity and the water capacities at field (33 kpa) and wilting point (1500 kpa) tensions. As a proof of concept and initial performance test, the values of the topographically adjusted soil parameters and those from the Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO; available at 1 : 20 000 scale) were compared with measured soil pedon pit data in the Grasslands Soil and Water Research Lab watershed in Riesel, TX. The topographically adjusted soils were better correlated with the pit measurements than were the SSURGO values. We then incorporated the topographically adjusted soils into an initialization of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model for 15 Riesel research watersheds to investigate how changes in soil properties influence modelled hydrological responses at the field scale. The results showed that the topographically adjusted soils produced better runoff predictions in 50% of the fields, with the SSURGO soils performing better in the remainder. In addition, the a priori adjusted soils result in fewer calibrated model parameters. These results indicate that adjusting soil properties based on topography can result in more accurate soil characterization and, in some cases, improve model performance. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study the elastic properties and the anisotropy of rocks using different machine learning methods

This paper aims to demonstrate that the elastic stiffnesses and the anisotropic parameters of rocks can be accurately predicted from geophysical features such as the porosity, the density, the compression stress, the pore pressure and the burial depth using relevant machine learning methods. It also suggests that the extreme gradient boosting method is the best method for this purpose. It is more accurate, extremely faster to train and more robust than the artificial neural networks and the support vector machine methods. Very high R-squared scores was obtained for the predicted elastic stiffnesses of a relevant dataset that is available in the literature. This dataset contains different types of rocks, and the values of the features are in large ranges. An optimal set of parameters was obtained by considering an appropriate sensitivity analysis. The optimized model is very easy to implement in Python for practical applications.