A simple method to combine snow height and meteorological observations to estimate winter precipitation at sub-daily resolution

ABSTRACT

Measuring winter solid and liquid precipitation with high temporal resolution in remote or higher elevation regions is a challenging task because of undercatch and power supply issues. However, the number of micro-meteorological stations and ultrasonic height sensors in mountain regions is steadily increasing. To gain more benefit from such stations, a new simple approach for EStimating SOlid and LIquid Precipitation (ESOLIP) is presented. The method consists of three main steps: (1) definition of precipitation events using micro-meteorological data, (2) quantification of solid and liquid precipitation using wet-bulb temperature and filtered snow height and (3) calculation of fresh snow density. ESOLIP performance was validated using data from a heated rain gauge, snow pillow and daily manual observations both for single precipitation events and over three winter seasons. Results proved ESOLIP as an effective approach for precipitation quantification, where snow height observations and basic meteorological measurements (air temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, relative humidity), but no reliable rain gauges are available.     

Experimental investigation on the effect of the mode of deposition on the pore-access size distribution of sand

It is well known that the specimen preparation method and the resulting sand fabric significantly affect sand behaviour and sand liquefaction resistance. In this study, a simple experimental method namely tensiometric method is presented for evaluation of the effect of the samples reconstituting methods on microstructure and the pore-access size distribution of sands. Specimens were prepared using dry funnel pluviation (DFP) and wet deposition (WD) at two densities Dr = 40% (loose state) and Dr = 80% (dense state). The water-retention curve of a sand specimen is evaluated using a technique similar to the hanging column method by application of a step-by-step variation of suction and measure of the corresponding changes in water content. The pore-access size distribution is then evaluated from the water-retention curve. In this experimental study the effects of the mode of deposition and the uniformity coefficient on the pore-access size distribution are investigated. It was found that the specimen generated by the WD method contained a higher percentage of pore size, contrary to the specimen prepared by the DFP which contained a limited percentage of pore size, causing a great influence on the mechanical behaviour of the specimens.     

Rock slope response to strong earthquake shaking

The 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes triggered many mass movements in the Port Hills including rockfalls, debris avalanches, slides and slumps, and associated cliff-top cracking. The most abundant mass movements with the highest risk to people and buildings were rockfalls and debris avalanches sourced from up to 100 m high cliffs inclined at angles >65°. Cliffs lower than 10 m in height generally remained stable during the strong shaking, with only isolated release of a few individual boulders. We used site-specific data to investigate the factors that controlled the response of the cliffs to the main earthquakes of the Canterbury sequence, adopting two-dimensional finite element seismic site response and stability modeling that was calibrated using the field observations and measurements. Observations from the assessed cliffs in response to the earthquakes show the taller cliffs experienced larger amounts of permanent cliff-top displacement and produced larger volumes of debris than the smaller cliffs. Results indicated a mean K_MAX amplification ratio for all sites under study of 1.6 (range of 1.1–3.8). Field data and numerical modeling results, however, show that amplification of shaking does not necessarily increase linearly with increasing cliff height. Instead, our results show that accelerations are amplified mainly due to the impedance contrasts between the geological materials, corresponding to where strong differences in rock mass shear wave velocity exist. The resulting acceleration contrasts and rock mass strength control cliff stability. However, the amount of permanent slope displacement and volume of debris leaving the cliffs varied between the sites, due to site-specific geometry and rock mass strength.     

The single-crystal,polarized-light,FTIR spectrum of stoppaniite,the Fe analogue of beryl

We report here a single-crystal polarized-light study of stoppaniite, ideally (Fe,Al,Mg)₄(Be₆Si₁₂O₃₆)(H₂O)₂(Na,□), from Capranica (Viterbo). Polarized-light FTIR spectra were collected on an oriented (hk0) section, doubly polished to 15 μm. The spectrum shows two main bands at 3,660 and 3,595 cm⁻¹; the former is strongly polarized for E ⊥c, while the latter is polarized for E //c. A sharp and very intense band at 1,620 cm⁻¹, plus minor features at 4,000 and 3,228 cm⁻¹ are also polarized for E //c. On the basis of literature data and considering the pleochroic behavior of the absorptions, the 3,660 cm⁻¹ band is assigned to the ν₃ stretching mode and the 1,620 cm⁻¹ (associated with an overtone 2*ν₂ at 3,230 cm⁻¹) band to the ν₂ bending mode of “type II” water molecules within the structural channels of the studied beryl. The sharp band at 3,595 cm⁻¹ is not associated with a corresponding ν₂ bending mode; thus it is assigned to the stretching vibration of O–H groups in the sample. The minor 4,000 cm⁻¹ feature can be assigned to the combination of the O–H bond parallel to c with a low-frequency metal-oxygen mode such as the Na–O stretching mode. The present results suggest that the interpretation of the FTIR spectrum of Na-rich beryl needs to be carefully reconsidered.     

Exploration of the high-redshift universe enabled by THESEUS

Experimental Astronomy - At peak, long-duration gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous sources of electromagnetic radiation known. Since their progenitors are massive stars, they provide a tracer...     

Estimate of the Transition Value of Librational Invariant Curves

We investigate the break-down threshold of librational invariant curves. As a model problem, we consider a variant of a mapping introduced by M. Hénon, which well describes the dynamics of librational motions surrounding a stable invariant point. We verify in concrete examples the applicability of Greene's method, by computing the instability transition values of a sequence of periodic orbits approaching an invariant curve with fixed noble frequency. However, this method requires the knowledge of the location of the periodic orbits within a very good approximation. This task appears to be difficult to realize for a libration regime, due to the different topology of the phase space. To compute the break-down threshold, we tried an alternative method very easy to implement, based on the computation of the fast Lyapunov indicators and frequency analysis. Such technique does not require the knowledge of the periodic orbits, but again, it appears very difficult to have a precision better than Greene's method for the computation of the critical parameter.