Training Images from Process-Imitating Methods

The lack of a suitable training image is one of the main limitations of the application of multiple-point statistics (MPS) for the characterization of heterogeneity in real case studies. Process-imitating facies modeling techniques can potentially provide training images. However, the parameterization of these process-imitating techniques is not straightforward. Moreover, reproducing the resulting heterogeneous patterns with standard MPS can be challenging. Here the statistical properties of the paleoclimatic data set are used to select the best parameter sets for the process-imitating methods. The data set is composed of 278 lithological logs drilled in the lower Namoi catchment, New South Wales, Australia. A good understanding of the hydrogeological connectivity of this aquifer is needed to tackle groundwater management issues. The spatial variability of the facies within the lithological logs and calculated models is measured using fractal dimension, transition probability, and vertical facies proportion. To accommodate the vertical proportions trend of the data set, four different training images are simulated. The grain size is simulated alongside the lithological codes and used as an auxiliary variable in the direct sampling implementation of MPS. In this way, one can obtain conditional MPS simulations that preserve the quality and the realism of the training images simulated with the process-imitating method. The main outcome of this study is the possibility of obtaining MPS simulations that respect the statistical properties observed in the real data set and honor the observed conditioning data, while preserving the complex heterogeneity generated by the process-imitating method. In addition, it is demonstrated that an equilibrium of good fit among all the statistical properties of the data set should be considered when selecting a suitable set of parameters for the process-imitating simulations.     

Extragalactic Astronomy with the VLTI: a new window on the Universe

Interferometry in the optical and near infrared has so far played a marginal role in Extragalactic Astronomy. Active Galactic Nuclei are the brightest and most compact extragalactic sources, nonetheless only a very limited number could be studied with speckle interferometry and none with long baseline interferometry. The VLTI will allow the study of moderately faint extragalactic objects with very high spatial resolution thus opening a new window on the universe. With this paper we focus on three scientific cases to show how AMBER and MIDI can be used to tackle open issues in extragalactic astronomy. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Climate control on stacked paleosols in the Pleistocene of the Po Basin (northern Italy)

Paleosols are recurrent features in alluvial successions and provide information about past sedimentary dynamics and climate change. Through sedimentological analysis on six sediment cores, the mud-dominated succession beneath the medieval ‘Two Towers’ of Bologna was investigated down to 100 m depth. A succession of weakly developed paleosols (Inceptisols) was identified. Four paleosols (P1, P2, P3 and PH) were radiocarbon-dated to 40–10 cal ka bp . Organic matter and CaCO₃ determinations indicate low groundwater levels during soil development, which spanned periods < 5 ka. The development and burial of soils, which occurred synchronously in the Bologna region and in other sectors of the Po Plain, are interpreted to reflect climatic and eustatic variations. Climatic oscillations, at the scale of the Bond cycles, controlled soil development and burial during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 (P1 and P2). Rapid sea-level oscillations probably induced soil development at the MIS 3/2 transition (P3) and favored burial of PH after 10 ka bp . Weakly developed paleosols in alluvial successions can provide clues to millennial-scale climatic and environmental variations. In particular, the paleosol-bearing succession of the Po Plain represents an unprecedent record of environmental changes across the Late Pleistocene (MIS 3 and 2) in the Mediterranean region.     

A numerical approach to estimate shaft friction of bored piles in sands

A new approach to estimate shaft capacity of bored piles in sandy soils, based on numerical analysis, is presented. The topic is relevant as current design methods often largely underestimate the shaft capacity of piles in sands, thus resulting in an over-conservative design. The proposed approach is based on explicitly modelling the thin cylinder of soil surrounding the pile, where strain localization concentrates (shear band), and on the fundamental mechanic behaviour of sandy soils (e.g. dilatancy, softening). This approach is both simple and easy to apply. Results of a broad parametric study involving axially loaded single piles embedded in different sandy soils are presented, highlighting that relative density and grain size distribution mainly affect the shaft capacity. The capability of the procedure to predict shaft friction is checked against data from a well-documented full-scale axial load test on instrumented pile. Some suggestions for calibration and application of the method are also reported.     

Onset of secular chaos in planetary systems: period doubling and strange attractors

As a result of resonance overlap, planetary systems can exhibit chaotic motion. Planetary chaos has been studied extensively in the Hamiltonian framework, however, the presence of chaotic motion in systems where dissipative effects are important, has not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we study the onset of stochastic motion in presence of dissipation, in the context of classical perturbation theory, and show that planetary systems approach chaos via a period-doubling route as dissipation is gradually reduced. Furthermore, we demonstrate that chaotic strange attractors can exist in mildly damped systems. The results presented here are of interest for understanding the early dynamical evolution of chaotic planetary systems, as they may have transitioned to chaos from a quasi-periodic state, dominated by dissipative interactions with the birth nebula.     

NOAA AR 8210: EVOLUTION AND FLARES FROM MULTIBAND DIAGNOSTICS

NOAA 8210 has been a region showing a remarkable level of activity well before solar maximum. Dominated by a large, rapidly rotating spot, it produced several intense flares during its disk passage at the end of April–beginning of May 1998. We examine the development of AR 8210 in H and white light (WL) and study the evolution of its complex magnetic topology. While the other principal flares are briefly reviewed, the great X1.1/3B flare of 2 May, which was observed at Kanzelhöhe Solar Observatory during a SOHO/UVCS ground support campaign, is studied in detail. This event has been documented in full-disk H and Na-D intensitygrams, Dopplergrams, and magnetograms, with a time cadence of one minute each. The flare was associated with a CME and produced significant geomagnetic effects. Furthermore, we point out the perspectives for our planned Flare Monitoring and Alerting System, since the two new instruments (Magneto-Optical Filter and Digital H camera), which made their first operational run with the campaign, are crucial components for this program.     

3. Solar System Formation and Early Evolution: the First 100 Million Years

The solar system, as we know it today, is about 4.5 billion years old. It is widely believed that it was essentially completed 100 million years after the formation of the Sun, which itself took less than 1 million years, although the exact chronology remains highly uncertain. For instance: which, of the giant planets or the terrestrial planets, formed first, and how? How did they acquire their mass? What was the early evolution of the “primitive solar nebula” (solar nebula for short)? What is its relation with the circumstellar disks that are ubiquitous around young low-mass stars today? Is it possible to define a “time zero” (t ₀), the epoch of the formation of the solar system? Is the solar system exceptional or common? This astronomical chapter focuses on the early stages, which determine in large part the subsequent evolution of the proto-solar system. This evolution is logarithmic, being very fast initially, then gradually slowing down. The chapter is thus divided in three parts: (1) The first million years: the stellar era. The dominant phase is the formation of the Sun in a stellar cluster, via accretion of material from a circumstellar disk, itself fed by a progressively vanishing circumstellar envelope. (2) The first 10 million years: the disk era. The dominant phase is the evolution and progressive disappearance of circumstellar disks around evolved young stars; planets will start to form at this stage. Important constraints on the solar nebula and on planet formation are drawn from the most primitive objects in the solar system, i.e., meteorites. (3) The first 100 million years: the “telluric” era. This phase is dominated by terrestrial (rocky) planet formation and differentiation, and the appearance of oceans and atmospheres.     

Fundamental physics and absolute positioning metrology with the MAGIA lunar orbiter

MAGIA is a mission approved by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for Phase A study. Using a single large-diameter laser retroreflector, a large laser retroreflector array and an atomic clock onboard MAGIA we propose to perform several fundamental physics and absolute positioning metrology experiments: VESPUCCI, an improved test of the gravitational redshift in the Earth?CMoon system predicted by General Relativity; MoonLIGHT-P, a precursor test of a second generation Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) payload for precision gravity and lunar science measurements under development for NASA, ASI and robotic missions of the proposed International Lunar Network (ILN); Selenocenter (the center of mass of the Moon), the determination of the position of the Moon center of mass with respect to the International Terrestrial Reference Frame/System (ITRF/ITRS); this will be compared to the one from Apollo and Lunokhod retroreflectors on the surface; MapRef, the absolute referencing of MAGIA??s lunar altimetry, gravity and geochemical maps with respect to the ITRF/ITRS. The absolute positioning of MAGIA will be achieved thanks to: (1) the laboratory characterization of the retroreflector performance at INFN-LNF; (2) the precision tracking by the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS), which gives two fundamental contributions to the ITRF/ITRS, i.e. the metrological definition of the geocenter (the Earth center of mass) and of the scale of length; (3) the radio science and accelerometer payloads; (4) support by the ASI Space Geodesy Center in Matera, Italy. Future ILN geodetic nodes equipped with MoonLIGHT and the Apollo/Lunokhod retroreflectors will become the first realization of the International Moon Reference Frame (IMRF), the lunar analog of the ITRF.     

A focal plane detector design for a wide-band Laue-lens telescope

The energy range above 60 keV is important for the study of many open problems in high energy astrophysics such as the role of Inverse Compton with respect to synchrotron or thermal processes in GRBs, non thermal mechanisms in SNR, the study of the high energy cut-offs in AGN spectra, and the detection of nuclear and annihilation lines. Recently the development of high energy Laue lenses with broad energy bandpasses from 60 to 600keV have been proposed for a Hard X ray focusing Telescope (HAXTEL) in order to study the X-ray continuum of celestial sources. The required focal plane detector should have high detection efficiency over the entire operative range, a spatial resolution of about 1mm, an energy resolution of a few keV at 500keV and a sensitivity to linear polarization. We describe a possible configuration of the focal plane detector based on several CdTe/CZT pixelated layers stacked together to achieve the required detection efficiency at high energy. Each layer can operate both as a separate position sensitive detector and polarimeter or work with other layers to increase the overall photopeak efficiency. Each layer has a hexagonal shape in order to minimize the detector surface required to cover the lens field of view. The pixels would have the same geometry so as to provide the best coupling with the lens point spread function and to increase the symmetry for polarimetric studies.