A new standardized Palmer drought index for hydro‐meteorological use

Accepting the concept of standardization introduced by the standardized precipitation index, similar methodologies have been developed to construct some other standardized drought indices such as the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). In this study, the authors provided deep insight into the SPEI and recognized potential deficiencies/limitations in relating to the climatic water balance it used. By coupling another well‐known Palmer drought severity index (PDSI), we proposed a new standardized Palmer drought index (SPDI) through a moisture departure probabilistic approach, which allows multi‐scalar calculation for accurate temporal and spatial comparison of the hydro‐meteorological conditions of different locations. Using datasets of monthly precipitation, temperature and soil available water capacity, the moisture deficit/surplus was calculated at multiple temporal scales, and a couple of techniques were adopted to adjust corresponding time series to a generalized extreme value distribution out of several candidates. Results of the historical records (1900–2012) for diverse climates by multiple indices showed that the SPDI was highly consistent and correlated with the SPEI and self‐calibrated PDSI at most analysed time scales. Furthermore, a simple experiment of hypothetical temperature and/or precipitation change scenarios also verified the effectiveness of this newly derived SPDI in response to climate change impacts. Being more robust and preferable in spatial consistency and comparability as well as combining the simplicity of calculation with sufficient accounting of the physical nature of water supply and demand relating to droughts, the SPDI is promising to serve as a competent reference and an alternative for drought assessment and monitoring. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Occurrence,durée et intensité des précipitations simulées par deux modèles régionaux canadiens du climat sur la région du Maghreb

[Translated by the editorial staff] Simulating the precipitation regime of Northern Africa is challenging for regional climate models, particularly because of the strong spatial and temporal variability of rain events in the region. In this study we evaluate simulations conducted with two recent versions of regional climate models (RCM) developed in Canada: the CRCM5 and CanRCM4. Both are also used in the COordinated Regional Climate Downscaling EXperiment (CORDEX)-Africa. The assessment is based on the occurrence, duration, and intensity indices of daily precipitation in Maghreb during the fall and spring seasons from 1998 to 2008. We also examine the links between the North-Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, weather systems, and the precipitation regime over the region. During the rainy season (September to February), the CRCM5 reproduces the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation adequately, as well as the occurrence of days with rain, while the CanRCM4 underestimates precipitation extremes. The study of links between weather systems and the precipitation regime shows that, along the Atlantic coast, precipitation (occurrence, intensity, and wet sequences) increases significantly with storm frequency in the fall. In winter, these links grow stronger going east, from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean coast. The negative phases of the NAO index are statistically associated with the increase in rain intensity, extremes, and accumulation along the Atlantic coast in the fall. However, the link weakens in winter over these regions and strengthens along the Mediterranean coast as the precipitation frequency rises during negative phases of the NAO. Both RCMs generally reproduce the links between the NAO and the precipitation regime well, regardless of location.     

慢特征分析法在气象上的应用进展

气候系统具有非平稳特征,根本原因在于其外强迫随时间发生改变,因此外部驱动力的分析对于理解气候系统的动力学特征至关重要,而如何有效提取系统外部驱动信息是一个亟待解决的前沿科学问题。最近几年,在生物神经学领域中应用的一种提取非平稳信号中外强迫信息的方法——慢特征分析法(Slow Feature Analysis,SFA),在气象领域中也得到了初步成功的尝试,结果显示出此方法对气候系统的外强迫信息分析及有关动力学机制的探究有较好的应用前景。本文主要介绍SFA方法的理论思想及实施步骤,并通过一个理想的非平稳时间序列检验其提取外强迫信息的能力,结果证明在衰减的Logistic模型中,可利用SFA算法提取出模型中的外强迫,且与真实外强迫的相关系数可达0.99;此外,还介绍将该方法应用于Arosa臭氧时间序列,分析其提取的外强迫信息的动力学特征;并介绍了在气候时间序列建模中引入外强迫因子的预测效果。     

贵州西北部基性侵入岩锆石U-Pb年代学、岩石地球化学特征 及其与铅锌成矿关系初探

贵州西北部发育多处基性侵入岩,总体规模较小(约0.25 Km2),多沿深大断裂侵位,出露于铅锌矿点外围,本文对猫猫厂、凉山两处矿点附近的儿马冲和白岩庆两地小型基性侵入岩进行了重点研究。侵入岩主要岩性为细粒辉长岩,造岩矿物主要为拉长石、普通辉石。SiO2范围为49.60-51.09 wt%,MgO从3.88-4.27 wt %,TiO2为3.69-3.85 wt %。LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb定年结果为268.3±7.4 Ma,显示岩浆侵位于二叠纪。基性侵入岩的微量元素蛛网图呈OIB型特征,富集大离子亲石元素（LILE）、轻稀土元素（LREE）,亏损重稀土元素（HFEE）,相对亏损高场强元素（Nb,Ta）,有Sr、Y亏损,Pb富集。(87Sr/86Sr)i范围0.706749～0.707069,(143Nd/144Nd)i范围0.512313～0.512363,εNd(t)范围0.2～1.2;源区熔融深度处于石榴石橄榄岩相深度,可能经历了1-3 %的部分熔融,处于亏损石榴石二辉橄榄岩相向原始石榴石二辉橄榄岩相的过渡区。成岩过程中发生了单斜辉石、斜长石等矿物分离结晶,受到了有限的地壳混染作用,未经历明显的AFC过程。地壳物质在地幔源区中的加入可能是造成地幔富集的主要原因。侵入岩与成矿作用之间的关系,主要通过两方面所表现。一方面是二者间构造活动上的耦合性。另一方面是基性岩在成矿过程中可能发挥了重要的化学屏障层作用。     

一种多系统组合导航快速选星方法

采用多卫星导航系统组合导航,定位精度和系统可靠性会大幅提升,但导航定位运算量也会成倍增长。为解决多系统组合导航定位精度与实时性之间的矛盾,提出一种新的选星方法。新方法不追求最小GDOP值,而是以满足导航定位精度的GDOP值为前提,结合模糊理论中隶属函数的思想,按卫星在星座中均匀分布为原则进行选星。推导伪距测量的误差模型,分析了GDOP与测量误差之间的关系。北斗、GPS和GLONASS三系统组合导航选星实验结果表明,在不超过3次求解GDOP值的情况下,新方法能以不小于98%的概率得到GDOP≤4。     

Generating GPS satellite fractional cycle bias for ambiguity-fixed precise point positioning

With the development of precise point positioning (PPP), the School of Geodesy and Geomatics (SGG) at Wuhan University is now routinely producing GPS satellite fractional cycle bias (FCB) products with open access for worldwide PPP users to conduct ambiguity-fixed PPP solution. We provide a brief theoretical background of PPP and present the strategies and models to compute the FCB products. The practical realization of the two-step (wide-lane and narrow-lane) FCB estimation scheme is described in detail. With GPS measurements taken in various situations, i.e., static, dynamic, and on low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, the quality of FCB estimation and the effectiveness of PPP ambiguity resolution (AR) are evaluated. The comparison with CNES FCBs indicated that our FCBs had a good consistency with the CNES ones. For wide-lane FCB, almost all the differences of the two products were within ±0.05 cycles. For narrow-lane FCB, 87.8 % of the differences were located between ±0.05 cycles, and 97.4 % of them were located between ±0.075 cycles. The experimental results showed that, compared with conventional ambiguity-float PPP, the averaged position RMS of static PPP can be improved from (3.6, 1.4, 3.6) to (2.0, 1.0, 2.7) centimeters for ambiguity-fixed PPP. The average accuracy improvement in the east, north, and up components reached 44.4, 28.6, and 25.0 %, respectively. A kinematic, ambiguity-fixed PPP test with observation of 80 min achieved a position accuracy of better than 5 cm at the one-sigma level in all three coordinate components. Compared with the results of ambiguity-float, kinematic PPP, the positioning biases of ambiguity-fixed PPP were improved by about 78.2, 20.8, and 65.1 % in east, north, and up. The RMS of LEO PPP test was improved by about 23.0, 37.0, and 43.0 % for GRACE-A and GRACE-B in radial, tangential, and normal directions when AR was applied to the same data set. These results demonstrated that the SGG FCB products can be produced with high quality for users anywhere around the world to carry out ambiguity-fixed PPP solutions.     

Laboratory Estimation of Rock Joint Stiffness and Frictional Parameters

Numerical modeling of complex rock engineering problems involves the use of various input parameters which control usefulness of the output results. Hence, it is of utmost importance to select the right range of input physical and mechanical parameters based on laboratory or field estimation, and engineering judgment. Joint normal and shear stiffnesses are two popular input parameters to describe discontinuities in rock, which do not have specific guidelines for their estimation in literature. This study attempts to provide simple methods to estimate joint normal and shear stiffnesses in the laboratory using the uniaxial compression and small-scale direct shear tests. Samples have been prepared using rocks procured from different depths, geographical locations and formations. The study uses a mixture of relatively smooth natural joints and saw-cut joints in the various rock samples tested. The results indicate acceptable levels of uncertainty in the calculation of the stiffness parameters and provide a database of good first estimates and empirical relations which can be used for calculating values for joint stiffnesses when laboratory estimation is not possible. Joint basic friction angles have also been estimated as by-products in the small scale direct shear tests.