REMINISCENCES OF A ROVING PHOTOGRAMMETRIST

The author reminisces upon a career of almost 40 years as a practising surveyor photogrammetrist, both as a Royal Engineer officer and as a director of a commercial survey organisation. The reminiscences include service with the Survey of India, war time operations in the Middle East and South East Asia Command, and commercial surveys of all types in developing countries. Professional service with international surveying and photogrammetric organisations is also mentioned, with particular reference to the fraternal aspects of international photogrammetry.     

CALCULATION OF MINIMUM RUN-OFF OF UNEXPLORED RIVERS IN THE U.S.S.R.

Abstract

Standard hydrological methods have been used to evaluate the water resources of a volcanic area that comprises the Lower Basin of the Rio Grande de San Miguel, El Salvador. The area of investigation included study of approximately 645 square kilometers.

The lower San Miguel Basin consists of a faulted valley situated at the base of a series of old and recent volcanoes bounding the valley on the East, a tuff block to the South, and consolidated volcanics (lahars) on the West and North. The valley fill consists of pyroclastics which diminish in particle size with distance from the volcanoes (Lapilli to ash), in the southern portion; however, the pyroclastics may be interbedded with lake deposits.

A principal objective of the evaluation was to assess the feasibility of irrigating 10,000 hectares of the valley. Results based upon the period of study suggest that almost half of the annual precipitation infiltrates into the ground. Of this quantity, about one third is accounted for by the existing hydrological balance between recharge and depletion. The remainder moves from the valley to the San Miguel River as ground-water runoff and, if retained, is sufficient in quantity to meet the full anticipated irrigation demand.     

地面对晴空大气热辐射结构的影响

本文利用1987年美国FIFE资料及1986年6月TIPMEX资料,并利用大气长、短波一维辐射传输数值模式,计算了晴空大气状态下地面辐射参数(地面热辐射温度、地表反照率等)对大气长波冷却率、短波加热率廓线的影响。结果表明,地球表面对大气边界层内的热辐射结构影响很大,特别是在高原地区这种影响尤其显著。     

Snow distribution from SSM/I and its relationships to the hydroclimatology of the Mackenzie River Basin,Canada

The spatial and temporal distribution of snow cover extent (SCE) and snow water equivalent (SWE) play vital roles in the hydrology of northern watersheds. We apply remotely sensed Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) data from 1988 to 2007 to explore the relationships between snow distribution and the hydroclimatology of the Mackenzie River Basin (MRB) of Canada and its major sub-basins. The Environment Canada (EC) algorithm is adopted to retrieve the SWE from SSM/I data. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 8-day maximum snow cover extent products (MOD10A2) are used to estimate the different thresholds of retrieved SWE from SSM/I to classify the land cover as snow or no snow for various sub-basins in the MRB. The sub-basins have varying topography and hence different thresholds that range from 10 mm to 30 mm SWE. The accuracy of snow cover mapping based on the combination of several thresholds for the different sub-basins reaches ≈ 90%. The northern basins are found to have stronger linear relationships between the date on which snow cover fraction (SCF) reaches 50% or when SWE reaches 50% and mean air temperatures, than the southern basins. Correlation coefficients between SCF, SWE, and hydroclimatological variables show the new SCF products from SSM/I perform better than SWE from SSM/I to analyze the relationships with the regional hydroclimatology. Statistical models relating SCF and SWE to runoff indicate that the SCF and SWE from EC algorithms are able to predict the discharge in the early snow ablation seasons in northern watersheds.     

Observed intra-seasonal to interannual variability of the upper ocean thermal structure in the southeastern Arabian Sea during 2002–2008

The southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS), located in the Indian Ocean warm pool, is a key-region of the regional climate system. It is suspected to play an important role in the dynamics of the Asian summer monsoon system. The present study reports the salient features derived from a newly harvested observational dataset consisting of repeated fortnightly XBT transects in the SEAS over the period 2002–2008. The fortnightly resolution of such a multi-year record duration is unprecedented in this part of the world ocean and provides a unique opportunity to examine the observed variability of the near-surface thermal structure over a wide spectrum, from intra-seasonal to interannual timescales. We find that most of the variability is trapped in the thermocline, taking the form of upwelling and downwelling motions of the thermal stratification. The seasonal variations are consistent with past studies and confirm the role of the monsoonal wind forcing through linear baroclinic waves (coastally-trapped Kelvin and planetary Rossby waves). Sub-seasonal variability takes the form of anomalous events lasting a few weeks to a few months and occurs at two preferred timescales: in the 30–110 day band, within the frequency domain of the Madden–Julian oscillation and in the 120–180 day band. While this sub-seasonal variability appears fairly barotropic in the offshore region, the sign of the anomaly in the upper thermocline is opposite to that in its lower part on many occasions along the coast. Our dataset also reveals relatively large interannual temperature variations of about 1 °C from 50 to 200 m depth that reflect a considerable year-to-year variability of the magnitude of both upwelling and downwelling events. This study clearly demonstrates the necessity for sustained long-term temperature measurements in the SEAS.     

Prediction of hydrodynamic loading on a mini TLP with free surface effects

This paper describes the extension of a fluid-flow simulations method to capture the free surface evolution around a full-scale Tension Leg Platform (TLP). The focus is on the prediction of the resulting hydrodynamic loading on the various elements of the TLP in turbulent flow conditions and, in particular, on quantifying the effects of the free surface distortion on this loading. The basic method uses finite-volume techniques to discretize the differential equations governing conservation of mass and momentum in three dimensions. The time-averaged forms of the equations are used, and the effects of turbulence are accounted for by using a two-equation, eddy-viscosity closure. The method is extended here via the incorporation of surface-tracking algorithm on a moving grid to predict the free-surface shape. The algorithm was checked against experimental measurements from two benchmark flows: the flow over a submerged semi-circular cylinder and the flow around a floating parabolic hull. Predictions of forces on a model TLP were then obtained both with and without allowing for the deformation of the free surface. The results suggest that the free surface effects on the hydrodynamic loads are small for the values of Froude number typically encountered in offshore engineering practice.     

The distribution of oxygen and hydrogen sulfide in Black Sea waters during winter-spring period

Regularities of oxygen and hydrogen sulfide are examined, using the method of spatial isopycnic analysis. The contribution that ventilation of winter-time surface waters over the domes of cyclonic gyres makes to the transfer of O₂ towards the upper boundary of the constant pycnocline and to the oxicline layer is demonstrated. The paper provides spatial scales of this phenomenon and indicates the areas where the upper boundary of the anoxic layer in the Black Sea, relative to the conventional density, is located much higher compared with the rest of the sea. The suboxic zone is shown to be a specific feature of the O₂/H₂S distribution in the Black Sea waters, typical, at least, of the northern part of the basin. Analysis of the suboxic spatial variability in the vertical has been conducted. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Estimates of Extragalactic Background and Confusion Noise Parameters for the Millimetron Telescope

Astronomy Letters - The sensitivity of future far-infrared telescopes, such as Millimetron, will be limited by the confusion noise produced by distant galaxies. We have constructed a model of the...     

Hotspots and a clumpy disc: variability of brown dwarfs and stars in the young σ Ori cluster

The properties of accretion discs around stars and brown dwarfs in the σ Ori cluster (age 3 Myr) are studied based on near-infrared (IR) time series photometry supported by mid-IR spectral energy distributions (SEDs). We monitor ∼30 young low-mass sources over eight nights in the J and K band using the duPont telescope at Las Campanas. We find three objects showing variability with J -band amplitudes  ≥0.5 mag  ; five additional objects exhibit low-level variations. All three highly variable sources have been previously identified as highly variable; thus, we establish the long-term nature of their flux changes. The light curves contain periodic components with time-scales of  ∼0.5–8 d  , but have additional irregular variations superimposed – the characteristic behaviour for classical T Tauri stars. Based on the colour variability, we conclude that hotspots are the dominant cause of variations in two objects (#19 and #33), including one likely brown dwarf, with spot temperatures in the range of 6000–7000 K. For the third one (#2), a brown dwarf or very low-mass star, inhomogeneities at the inner edge of the disc are the likely origin of variability. Based on mid-IR data from Spitzer , we confirm that the three highly variable sources are surrounded by circum-(sub)-stellar discs. They show typical SEDs for T Tauri-like objects. Using SED models, we infer an enhanced scaleheight in the disc for the object #2, which favours the detection of disc inhomogeneities in light curves and is thus consistent with the information from variability. In the σ Ori cluster, about every fifth accreting low-mass object shows persistent high-level photometric variability. We demonstrate that estimates for fundamental parameters in such objects can be significantly improved by determining the extent and origin of the variations.