Anthropogenic heat in the city of S?o Paulo, Brazil

The main goal of this work is to describe the anthropogenic energy flux (Q _F) in the city of S?o Paulo, Brazil. The hourly, monthly, and annual values of the anthropogenic energy flux are estimated using the inventory method, and the contributions of vehicular, stationary, and human metabolism sources from 2004 to 2007 are considered. The vehicular and stationary sources are evaluated using the primary consumption of energy based on fossil fuel, bio fuel, and electricity usage by the population. The diurnal evolution of the anthropogenic energy flux shows three relative maxima, with the largest maxima occurring early in the morning (??19.9 Wm^?2) and in the late afternoon (??20.3 Wm^?2). The relative maximum that occurs around noontime (??19.6 Wm^?2) reflects the diurnal pattern of vehicle traffic that seems to be specific to S?o Paulo. With respect to diurnal evolution, the energy flux released by vehicular sources (Q _FV) contributes approximately 50% of the total anthropogenic energy flux. Stationary sources (Q _FS) and human metabolism (Q _FM) represent about 41% and 9% of the anthropogenic energy flux, respectively. For 2007, the monthly values of Q _FV, Q _FS, Q _FM, and Q _F are, respectively, 16.8?±?0.25, 14.3?±?0.16, 3.5?±?0.03, and 34.6?±?0.41?MJ?m^?2?month^?1. The seasonal evolution monthly values of Q _FV, Q _FS, Q _FM, and Q _F show a relative minimum during the summer and winter vacations and a systematic and progressive increase associated with the seasonal evolution of the economic activity in S?o Paulo. The annual evolution of Q _F indicates that the city of S?o Paulo released 355.2?MJ?m^?2?year^?1 in 2004 and 415.5?MJ?m^?2?year^?1 in 2007 in association with an annual rate of increase of 19.6?MJ?m^?2?year^?1 (from 2004 to 2006) and 30.5?MJ?m^?2?year^?1 (from 2006 to 2007). The anthropogenic energy flux corresponds to about 9% of the net radiation at the surface in the summer and 15% in the winter. The amplitude of seasonal variation of the maximum hourly value of the diurnal variation increases exponentially with latitude.     

On the Time Evolution of the Turbulent Kinetic Energy Spectrum for Decaying Turbulence in the Convective Boundary Layer

Our focus is the time evolution of the turbulent kinetic energy for decaying turbulence in the convective boundary layer. The theoretical model with buoyancy and inertial transfer terms has been extended by a source term due to mechanical energy and validated against large-eddy simulation data. The mechanical effects in a boundary layer of height z _i at a convective surface-layer height z = 0.05z _i are significant in the time evolution of the vertical component of the spectrum, i.e. they enhance the decay time scale by more than an order of magnitude. Our findings suggest that shear effects seem to feedback to eddies with smaller wavenumbers, preserving the original shape of the spectrum, and preventing the spectrum from shifting towards shorter wavelengths. This occurs in the case where thermal effects only are considered.     

Climate change in the Paraná state,Brazil: responses to increasing atmospheric CO 2 in reference evapotranspiration

The hydrological variable evapotranspiration (ET) is challenging to estimate because it cannot be measured directly in natural environments (except in small plots). The uncertainties associated with the models used for its prediction have increased under climate change conditions. We studied the influence of stomatal resistance on ET estimates using the Penman-Monteith method as projected by three general circulation models in two emission scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) for future climates throughout the twenty-first century (2010–2039, 2040–2069, and 2070–2099). We also investigated the probable ET rate changes in relation to the current (30 years average, 1980–2009) climate conditions for the Paraná state in the southern region of Brazil. The results were regionalized to help policymakers assess climate change impacts and design adaptation measures. ET increases of up to 15% were found in future climate conditions, which may lead to a significant increase in the water demand for agricultural crops. However, we believe that plant morphophysiological changes may occur under atmospheric CO2 enrichment conditions and that a possible reduction in stomatal conductance will result in lower ET increases than those obtained with the traditional Penman-Monteith method. When considering future climate scenarios, we propose the equation be adjusted to consider stomatal resistance as a function of CO2 concentrations.     

The Catalão I niobium deposit, central Brazil: Resources, geology and pyrochlore chemistry

The Catalão I alkaline–carbonatite–phoscorite complex contains both fresh rock and residual (weathering-related) niobium mineralization. The fresh rock niobium deposit consists of two plug-shaped orebodies named Mine II and East Area, respectively emplaced in carbonatite and phlogopitite. Together, these orebodies contain 29 Mt at 1.22 wt.% Nb₂O₅ (measured and indicated). In closer detail, the orebodies consist of dike swarms of pyrochlore-bearing, olivine-free phoscorite-series rocks (nelsonite) that can be either apatite-rich (P2 unit) or magnetite-rich (P3 unit). Dolomite carbonatite (DC) is intimately related with nelsonite. Natropyrochlore and calciopyrochlore are the most abundant niobium phases in the fresh rock deposit. Pyrochlore supergroup chemistry shows a compositional trend from Ca–Na dominant pyrochlores toward Ba-enriched kenopyrochlore in fresh rock and the dominance of Ba-rich kenopyrochlore in the residual deposit. Carbonates associated with Ba-, Sr-enriched pyrochlore show higher δ¹⁸O_SMOW than expected for carbonates crystallizing from mantle-derived magmas. We interpret both the δ¹⁸O_SMOW and pyrochlore chemistry variations from the original composition as evidence of interaction with low-temperature fluids which, albeit not responsible for the mineralization, modified its magmatic isotopic features. The origin of the Catalão I niobium deposit is related to carbonatite magmatism but the process that generated such niobium-rich rocks is still undetermined and might be related to crystal accumulation and/or emplacement of a phosphate–iron-oxide magma.     

Seakeeping performance of fishing vessels in irregular waves

A study of the seakeeping performance of a set of fishing vessels is carried out aiming to identify the seakeeping criteria, and vessel conditions that limit the operability of the fishing vessels in certain sea states. Ship motions and derived responses are obtained in fully developed sea states using the transfer functions of the hull forms. Those responses are assessed against the prescribed values, for the chosen criteria, to determine the vessels operational conditions that might result in hazards or seasickness. For the purpose of this study, each fishing vessel is considered operating in sea states 5 and 6, with different Froude numbers and heading angles, and their short term responses are assessed against the most relevant criteria related with the absolute and relative motions, accelerations, slamming and green water on deck. The results obtained show that roll and pitch criteria are most critical for seakeeping performance, and there is a significant influence of the transverse metacentric height, GMt, and the location of the reference checking points in the seakeeping performance of these fishing vessels.     

Updating Local Anisotropies with Template Matching During Geostatistical Seismic Inversion

Mathematical Geosciences - Iterative geostatistical seismic inversion methods are widely used to predict petro-elastic rock properties from seismic reflection data. When the model perturbation...     

Possibilities of discriminating tropical secondary succession in Amazônia using hyperspectral and multiangular CHRIS/PROBA data

CHRIS/PROBA data collected in the Brazilian Amazônia in 4 view angles (−36°, nadir, +36°, +55°) and 62 bands (410–1000 nm range) were evaluated for the discrimination between primary forest and 3 stages of secondary succession after deforestation: initial (SS1; <5 years), intermediate (SS2; 5–15 years) and advanced (SS3; >15 years). Single view angle and multiangular approaches (nadir plus anisotropic information derived from reflectance ratios between view angles) were tested for discrimination. Both approaches used principal components analysis (PCA) applied to pixel spectra representative of each class in order to reduce data dimensionality at each dataset, to enhance separability between the classes, and to provide input variables for multiple discriminant analysis (MDA). The results showed that the off-nadir viewing improved discrimination between the successional stages. Discrimination between SS2 and SS3 was enhanced with PCA at +36° view angle. Primary forest and SS3 presented a more anisotropic behavior than SS2 and SS1, especially in the backward scattering direction (positive view angles) in which great amounts of sunlit canopy components were viewed by the sensor. MDA classification results showed that the multiangular approach produced an overall improvement in the discrimination. From the single (nadir) to the multiangular approach, classification accuracy using a separate set of pixels increased from 83.3% to 98.3% for SS1, 53.3% to 70.0% for SS2, and 58.3% to 76.7% for SS3. The nadir and multiangular classifications were statistically different at a 0.05% level of significance. Kappa statistics increased from 0.63 to 0.82. The results showed that multiangular data can improve the differentiation between primary forest and old stages of natural vegetation regrowth, which have been reported in the literature as the most difficult classes to be mapped in the Amazonian environment.     

Simulation of free surface flow around a VLCC hull using viscous and potential flow methods

Numerical simulations have been carried out to determine the incompressible free surface flow around a VLCC hull form for which experimental results are available. A commercial viscous flow finite volume code using the two-phase Eulerian–Eulerian fluid approach and a potential flow code based on the Rankine source method have been used in this study. The simulation conditions are the ones for which experimental results exist. The shear stress transport (SST) turbulence model has been used in the viscous flow code. A tetrahedral unstructured grid was used with the viscous flow code for meshing the computational domain, while quadrilateral structural patches were used with the potential flow code for meshing the VLCC hull surface and the water surface around it. The results compare well with the available experimental data and they allow an understanding of the differences that can be expected from viscous and potential flow methods as a result of their different mathematical formulations, which make their complementary application useful for determining the total ship resistance.     

Geostatistical seismic inversion for non‐stationary patterns using direct sequential simulation and co‐simulation

Geostatistical seismic inversion methods are routinely used in reservoir characterisation studies because of their potential to infer the spatial distribution of the petro‐elastic properties of interest (e.g., density, elastic, and acoustic impedance) along with the associated spatial uncertainty. Within the geostatistical seismic inversion framework, the retrieved inverse elastic models are conditioned by a global probability distribution function and a global spatial continuity model as estimated from the available well‐log data for the entire inversion grid. However, the spatial distribution of the real subsurface elastic properties is complex, heterogeneous, and, in many cases, non‐stationary since they directly depend on the subsurface geology, i.e., the spatial distribution of the facies of interest. In these complex geological settings, the application of a single distribution function and a spatial continuity model is not enough to properly model the natural variability of the elastic properties of interest. In this study, we propose a three‐dimensional geostatistical inversion technique that is able to incorporate the reservoir's heterogeneities. This method uses a traditional geostatistical seismic inversion conditioned by local multi‐distribution functions and spatial continuity models under non‐stationary conditions. The procedure of the proposed methodology is based on a zonation criterion along the vertical direction of the reservoir grid. Each zone can be defined by conventional seismic interpretation, with the identification of the main seismic units and significant variations of seismic amplitudes. The proposed method was applied to a highly non‐stationary synthetic seismic dataset with different levels of noise. The results of this work clearly show the advantages of the proposed method against conventional geostatistical seismic inversion procedures. It is important to highlight the impact of this technique in terms of higher convergence between real and inverted reflection seismic data and the more realistic approximation towards the real subsurface geology comparing with traditional techniques.