A sequential ensemble prediction system at convection-permitting scales

A sequential data assimilation approach (SAM) that incorporates elements of particle filtering with resampling (SIR, Sequential Importance Resampling) is introduced. SAM is applied to the COSMO-DE-EPS, which is an ensemble prediction system for weather forecasting on convection-permitting scales. At the convective scale and beyond, the atmosphere increasingly exhibits non-linear state space evolutions. For an ensemble-based data assimilation system, this requires both an adequate metric that quantifies the distance between the observed atmospheric state and the states simulated by the ensemble members, and a methodology to counteract filter degeneracy, i.e. the collapse of the simulated state space. We, therefore, propose a combination of resampling, which accounts for simulated state space clustering, and nudging. SAM differs from the classical SIR approach mainly in the weighting applied to the ensemble members. By keeping cluster representatives during resampling, the method maintains the potential for non-linear system state development. With three convective case studies, we demonstrate that SAM improves forecast quality compared with the control EPS (EPS without data assimilation) for the first 5–6 h of forecast.     

Temperature-dependent leaching of chemical elements from mineral water bottle materials

It is well established that minute amounts of chemical elements will leach from bottle materials (glass or PET – polyethylene terephthalate) to water stored in such bottles. This study investigated whether leaching increases with storage temperature. For glass bottles this is clearly the case for a long list of elements: Ag, Al, As, B, Ba, Ca, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ga, Ge, K, La, Li, Mg, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Se, Sn, Sr, Ti, U, V, W and Zr. However, for glass bottles drinking water maximum admissible concentration values as defined by European authorities are not exceeded even after 1 week of leaching at 80 °C. The critical temperature limit where leaching substantially increases for many elements appears to be 45 °C. For PET bottles, Sb is the only element where leaching is observed at all temperatures and again leaching strongly increases at 45 °C. For PET bottles Sb concentrations observed in water after 1 week storage at 80 °C reach almost four times the maximum admissible concentration values for drinking water but do not exceed the relevant higher limit for food (including water) packaged in PET.     

Quaternary clay mineralogy in the northern South China Sea (ODP Site 1146)

Measurement of clay mineralogy at ODP Site 1146 in the northern South China Sea (SCS) indicates that illite, chlorite, and kaolinite contents increased during glacials and smectite content increased during interglacials. The smectite/(illite+chlorite) ratio and the smectite abundance were determined as mineralogical indicators for the East Asian monsoon evolution. At a 10 ka timescale, prevailing southeasterly surface oceanic currents during interglacials transported more smectite from the south and east areas to the north, showing a strengthened summer monsoon circulation, whereas dominated counter-clockwise surface currents during glacials carried more illite and chlorite from Taiwan as well as from the Yangtze River via the Luzon Strait to the northern SCS, indicating a strongly intensified winter monsoon. Based on a 100 ka timescale, a linear correlation between the smectite/(illite+chlorite) ratio and the sedimentation rate reflects that the winter monsoon has prevailed in the northern SCS in the intervals 2000–1200 ka and 400–0 ka and the summer monsoon did the same in the interval 1200–400 ka. The evolution of the summer monsoon provides an almost linear response to the summer insolation of Northern Hemisphere, implying an astronomical forcing of the East Asian monsoon evolution.     

A deconvolution algorithm for broadband synthetic aperture dataprocessing

Conventional processing of synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) data is equivalent to a two-dimensional matched filter operation. In principle, two-dimensional deconvolution improves the resolution of the processed image. However, its direct implementation is generally impractical, due to numerical problems. The paper discusses the development of iterative algorithms that efficiently perform the deconvolution of broadband synthetic aperture data and gives examples of their application. It is concluded that, in many cases, the proposed approach is preferable to more classical solutions     

A fish-based typology of small temperate rivers in the northeastern lowlands of Germany

Fish assemblage data from 69 brooks and small streams were analysed to derive a fish-based typology of small lowland streams in the “Central Plains” ecoregion of northeastern Germany. Altogether 32 native, 1 non-native fish species and 2 lamprey species were detected in the lowland rivers studied. Species number and diversity varied significantly according to mean summer water temperatures and size of the watercourses. Summer-cold brooks contained on average 3-5 species, brooks with higher summer temperatures 5-8 species and small lowland rivers around 10-14 species. Small lowland brooks contained a significantly higher number of fish species when they flowed into or out of lakes: typically around 8-12.In the northeastern German lowlands the following three different river types were distinguished according to their fish assemblages: (1) The “lowland trout brook”, where brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) are reference species and accompanied by stone loach (Barbatula barbatula (L.)), brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri (Bloch)), three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.), ten-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius (L.)) and gudgeon (Gobio gobio (L.)); (2) The “perch- and roach-dominated lowland brook”, where perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) and roach (Rutilus rutilus (L.)) are reference species, accompanied by pike (Esox lucius L.), three-spined stickleback and gudgeon; and (3) The “lowland lake connected brook” inhabited by higher numbers of fish species, with higher proportions of cyprinid fishes, and higher proportions of limnophilic fish. Apart from perch and roach, bleak (Alburnus alburnus (L.)), common bream (Abramis brama (L.)), silver bream (Blicca bjoerkna (L.)) and rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus (L.)) also occurred frequently.Further two observed fish-based types were not considered: The potential stone loach-dominated brook was not sufficiently represented in this study to be verified, and the stickleback brook was considered to represent degradation of lowland trout brooks.The correspondence between the fish-based typology and the morphology-based German stream typology was rather weak and requires further investigation.     

Study on the suitability of New Zealand coals for hydrogen production

Internationally there is considerable interest in utilizing hydrogen as an energy carrier. The use of hydrogen offers considerable potential benefits such as reducing greenhouse emissions, reducing urban pollution, increased energy security and increased efficiencies from the use of advanced energy conversion technologies.One of the most important questions when considering the development of a hydrogen economy is “where will the hydrogen come from?” Possible answers include electrolysis of water, steam reforming of methane and the gasification of coal. Given the high costs associated with electrolysis of water, and the increase in the cost of methane predicted over time, the gasification of coal is viewed by many as being the cheapest method of hydrogen production in the foreseeable future. These considerations are particularly relevant to New Zealand where gas supplies are dwindling but where there is sufficient coal to last for many centuries at present utilization rates. This, along with the current high international interest in hydrogen energy, has been recognized by the New Zealand Government in the form of a six-year [2002–2008] research project “Hydrogen Energy for the Future of New Zealand”.One important coal property that, in particular, determines the suitability of a particular coal for use in a fluidised bed gasifier is its reactivity towards the gasification reaction. It was found that a high percentage of New Zealand's coal resource is particularly well-suited towards fluidised bed gasification, reacting at anywhere between 0.9 to 1.75 times the rate of Australian brown coals. It was found the New Zealand lignites contained significant levels of organically bound calcium, which was shown to be responsible for not only the high reactivity of the New Zealand lignites, but also a product gas composition with higher than expected hydrogen concentrations. These findings are discussed along with their implications for the gasifier and gas clean-up design.     

The fluid regime of high-temperature metamorphism during granitoid magma genesis

The strong negative correlation between the temperatures and melt H₂O contents of granitoid magmas implies that the crustal melting reactions that produced the magmas were strongly buffered, with T and aH₂O co-varying within a narrow band. This observation can only be explained if the partial melting reactions that created the magmas were either fluid-absent from the outset or evolved toward this condition as melting progressed. Since these melting reactions occur during upper amphibolite- to granulite-facies metamorphism, it is reasonable to conclude that metamorphic events responsible for the generation of granitoid magmas generally occur in the absence of excess pervasive fluid.     

Stream water geochemistry from selected catchments on the Kola Peninsula (NW Russia)and in neighbouring areas of Finland and Norway: 1. Elements levels and sources

The pH, electrical conductance and concentration of six anions and 33 cations were determined in stream waters sampled in 1994 from eight arctic catchments on and adjacent to the Kola Peninsula (Russia, Finland and Norway). The catchments are located at various distances (5–300 km) from the major industrial emissions centres of Monchegorsk, Nikel and Zapoljarniy in Russia. The source of the elements can be (1) natural, marine (sea spray), (2) natural, geogenic (blowing soil/dust, till, bedrock), and/or (3) anthropogenic, industrial (emissions from smelters, dust from mining, etc.), each source showing a distinct signature. The median concentration of many contaminants can vary by up to three orders of magnitude from polluted to remote locations, and the concentration ranges observed in different catchments often do not overlap. This implies that contamination falls sharply with distance from source, but is quite profound and lasting close to the emission centres. Elevated trace metal contents in the most polluted streams indicates that deposited contaminants are transferred to the aquatic ecosystem, and eventually can reach the ocean.     

Stream water geochemistry from selected catchments on the Kola Peninsula (NW Russia) and in neighbouring areas of Finland and Norway: 2. Time-series

Stream water composition, measured weekly for 8–9 months in 1994 in three arctic catchments on and around the Kola Peninsula (Russia, Finland and Norway), is presented in the form of time-series. In all three catchments, snowmelt causes a major dilution of the stream water, as reflected by marked dips in electrical conductance. In the most polluted catchment (C2), the snowmelt flood (the major hydrological event at these latitudes) is reflected in the stream water by a pH dip and a pulse in technogenic heavy metals (Cu, Ni, etc.), Al and S. This results from melting of the snow laden with heavy metals and sulphate, and from leaching of the topsoil layer. In the most pristine catchment (C8), snowmelt causes no heavy metal pulse (remote location) but yields an increase in stream water Al (acidic lithology/overburden). In the intermediate catchment (C5), very subdued heavy metal and S increases are noticeable in the stream water, whilst its pH increases steadily until summer (basic lithology). Some elements (Cl, S) may be mobilised out of the snowpack before its complete thawing and reach the stream 1–2 weeks ahead of the heavy metals. The substrate (soil, overburden and bedrock) of a catchment controls to a large extent its ability to buffer acid inputs.