A model of river flow forecasting for a small forested mountain catchment

A model for quantitatively expressing the hydrological cycle in a forested mountain catchment is proposed as a HYCYMODEL. HYCYMODEL is able to predict both short- and long-term hydrographs because the model parameters remain independent of time. It shows a good applicability for ten years of continuous data at both hourly and daily intervals for the Kiryu catchment—a forested mountain basin. Since HYCYMODEL does not need hydrograph separation between storm flow and base flow, it is a particularly attractive model.     

The Fermi coordinate system in the post-Newtonian framework

The Fermi coordinate system (or the non-rotating proper reference frame) is studied within the framework of the post-Newtonian approximation of general relativity. First its general functional form is found to consist of three parts; (1) the motion of the space origin of the Fermi coordinate system relative to the background one, (2) the Fermi-Walker tetrad transported along the world line of the space origin, and (3) the spacelike geodesic starting from the space origin. Next, the post-Newtonian expressions of the latter two are obtained under the condition that the first is given. Then the full coordinate transformation formula connecting the Fermi coordinate system to the background one is derived explicitly. The effectiveness of the Fermi coordinate system is discussed and the effective region is found to be a cylinder with the radius of about 0.5 kpc for the Fermi coordinate system comoving with the Earth. The mathematical way to derive the generalized Fermi coordinate system which Ashby and Bertotti defined is also shown.     

Seasonal dependences of geomagnetic variations in the polar region in connection with large-amplitude annual Z-variation at the geomagnetic pole

A noticeable depression of the vertical component Z of the geomagnetic field is observed in the polar cap in summer. From the statistical analysis of the equivalent overhead current patterns for daily geomagnetic variations in the summer and winter polar regions for three different conditions of IMF (interplanetary magnetic field), it was concluded that the annual variation of geomagnetic Z in the vicinity of the geomagnetic pole is attributed to the relative spatial shift of the twin-vortex current patterns over the polar cap from summer to winter. In winterthe clockwise current vortex in the dawn sector extends almost over the entire polar cap (except for the periods when the B_z component of IMF has a large positive value), and this will result in the positive variation of the Z-value at the geomagnetic pole. In summer the counter-clockwise current vortex in the dusk sector always extends over the whole polar cap even when B_z of IMF is positiveso that the variation of Z becomes negative. The persistent existence of current vortex in the dawn sector is important for the further study of magnetospheric convection when B_z is positive.     

A system of astronomical constants in the relativistic framework

The relation between the units and readings of time and space coordinates of terrestrial and barycentric reference frames is discussed from the viewpoint of general relativity. Attention is paid to the unit of space coordinates since the International Astronomical Union (IAU) regulates only the unit of time in the above two frames. Two definitions of unit of length are examined and their effects on the numerical expression of coordinate transformation, equations of planetary motions, and those for light propagation time are discussed. A clear conflict is found between the IAU (1976) recommendation on the definition of the time-scales in different frames of reference and the statement that all constants in the IAU (1976) new system of astronomical constants are defined in terms of the Internationsl System of units (SI units). One of the above two definitions is proposed to resolve this conflict by the least alteration to current procedures for analysing the recent astrometric observations such as the radar/laser rangings, the range and range-rate, and the very long baseline interferometric observations. Also, an interpretation of numerical values in the IAU (1976) new system of astronomical constants is presented. It is stressed that the definition proposed in this paper requires that a formula slightly different from that in current use be employed in the numerical transformation of readings of coordinates between the terrestrial and barycentric reference frames.     

Phytoplankton pigment distributions in regional upwelling around the Izu Peninsula detected by Coastal Zone Color Scanner on May 1982

Phytoplankton pigment (chlorophylla+pheopigments) distributions in a regional upwelling around the Izu Peninsula obtained by the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) on May 23, 1982, were compared with ship-observed pigment and satellite sea-surface-temperature distributions. Pigment concentrations detected by the CZCS were positively correlated with the ship-observed pigment concentrations. However, they were about factor of 5 smaller when atmospheric correction parameters known for typical oceanic and land aerosol were used and when the parameters were estimated with the clear water algorithm. When the atmospheric correction parameters were adjusted so that a pigment concentration derived by CZCS was equivalent to a concentration obtained by the ship at a coincide location, the pattern and magnitudes of the CZCS-derived pigment distributions showed remarkable agreement with ship-observed pigment distributions. Thus, the normal atmospheric correction algorithm may not be suitable for waters around Japan, and the development of better atmospheric correction methods combined with more verification programs is required. The pigment distributions showed patterns that were similar to those observed in sea-surface-temperature distributions. Cold water showed higher pigment concentrations, and warm water showed lower pigment concentrations. The Kuroshio, which can be identified by generally warm, low pigment water, showed a large meander which flowed offshore at Shiono-misaki, looped back onshore from Hachijo Island to Omaezaki and then flowed northeast along the Izu and Boso Peninsulas. Locally upwelled water along the Izu Peninsula was seen clearly in the sea-surface-temperature and CZCS pigment distributions as a region of cold water and high pigment concentrations. Cold upwelled waters were also found at the eastern side of the Izu Islands, but pigment concentrations in these waters was not always high. This difference in the two upwelling regions may be caused by different physical and biological interactions.     

A Method Solving Kepler’s Equation for Hyperbolic Case

We developed a method to solve Keplers equation for the hyperboliccase. The solution interval is separated into three regions; F 1, F 1, F 1. For the region F is large, we transformed the variablefrom F to exp F and applied the Newton method to the transformed equation.For the region F is small, we expanded the equation with respect to F andapplied the Newton method to the approximated equations. For the middleregion, we adopted a discretization of the Newton method and used the Taylorseries expansion for the evaluation of transcendental functions (Fukushima,1997). Numerical measurements showed that, in the case of Intel Pentiumprocessor, the new method is more than 3.7 times as fast as the combinationof a fourth order correction formula (Fukushima, 1997) and Roysstarting procedure (Roy, 1988) and others.     

Expansions of elliptic motion based on elliptic function theory

New expansions of elliptic motion based on considering the eccentricitye as the modulusk of elliptic functions and introducing the new anomalyw (a sort of elliptic anomaly) defined byw=u/2K–/2,g=amu–/2 (g being the eccentric anomaly) are compared with the classic (e, M), (e, v) and (e, g) expansions in multiples of mean, true and eccentric anomalies, respectively. These (q,w) expansions turn out to be in general more compact than the classical ones. The coefficients of the (e,v) and (e,g) expansions are expressed as the hypergeometric series, which may be reduced to the hypergeometric polynomials. The coefficients of the (q,w) expansions may be presented in closed (rational function) form with respect toq, k, k=(1–k ²)^1/2,K andE, q being the Jacobi nome relatedk whileK andE are the complete elliptic integrals of the first and second kind respectively. Recurrence relations to compute these coefficients have been derived.on leave from Institute of Applied Astronomy, St.-Petersburg 197042, Russia     

Characterizing the flush of stream chemical runoff from forested watersheds

A flush can be defined as stream chemical exhibiting higher concentrations during the prophase of a storm event at an event scale, or exhibiting progressively lower concentrations during several successive storms at a seasonal scale. Investigating the flush characteristics of chemical runoff from forested watersheds is important and helpful to understand the chemical dynamics as well as to design a sampling schedule strategy during storm events. Here, three parameters describing the flush characteristic are quantified and the flush characteristics of chemicals from four Japanese forested watersheds (Mie, Kochi, Nagano and Tokyo) were investigated at both event and seasonal levels. We found that the characteristics of the flush were complicated, and depended on the constituents of the hydrochemistry, climate and runoff quality. Generally, the flush occurs more readily for particulate components than for those in solution; the flush on nitrate‐nitrogen is weaker in regions of nitrogen saturation, such as Nagano and Tokyo, than in Mie and Kochi. Rainfall feature was the main factor controlling the flush of particulate components. However, the source available in a watershed plays a main role on the flushes of dissolve chemicals. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of ADEOS-II GLI ocean color atmospheric correction using SIMBADA handheld radiometer data

The performance of the “version 2” Global Imager (GLI) standard atmospheric correction algorithm, which includes empirical absorptive aerosol correction and sun glint correction, was evaluated using data collected with handheld above-water SIMBADA radiometers during 23 cruises of opportunity (research vessels, merchant ships), mostly in the North Atlantic and European seas. A number of 100 match-up data sets of GLI-derived and SIMBADA-measured normalized water-leaving radiance (nL _W ) and aerosol optical thickness (AOT) were sorted out, using objective selection criteria, and analyzed. The Root-Mean-Square (RMS) difference between GLI and SIMBADA nL _W was about 0.32 μW/cm²/nm/sr for the 412 nm band, showing improvement by 30% in RMS difference with respect to the conventional “version 1” GLI atmospheric correction algorithm, and the mean difference (or bias) was reduced significantly. For AOT, the RMS difference was 0.1 between GLI estimates and SIMBADA measurements and the bias was small (a few 0.01), but the ?ngstr?m exponent was systematically underestimated, by 0.4 on average, suggesting a potential GLI calibration offset in the near infrared. The nL _W differences were not correlated to AOT, although performance was best in very clear conditions (AOT less than 0.05 in the 865 nm band). Despite the relatively large scatter between estimated and measured nL _W , the derived chlorophyll-a concentration estimates, applying the same ratio algorithm (GLI OC4V4) to GLI and SIMBADA, were consistent and highly correlated in the range of 0.05–2 μg/l. The large variability in chlorophyll-a concentration estimate for clear clean water areas (e.g. with the concentration range lower than about 0.05 μg/l) turns out to be due to the nature of the “band ratio” based in-water algorithm.