Alkyl nitrate formation from the reaction of a series of branched RO2 radicals with NO as a function of temperature and pressure

Alkyl nitrate yields from the NO _x photooxidations of neopentane, 2-methylbutane and 3-methylpentane have been determined over the temperature and pressure ranges 281–323 K and 54–740 torr, respectively. The formation of the alkyl nitrates is attributed to the reaction pathway (1b) $${\text{RO}}_{\text{2}} + {\text{NO}}^{{\text{ }}\underrightarrow {\text{M}}} {\text{ RONO}}_{\text{2}}$$ and rate constant ratios k _1b/(k _1a+k _1b) are estimated, where (1a) is the reaction pathway (1a) $${\text{RO}}_{\text{2}} + {\text{NO}} \to {\text{RONO}}_{\text{2}} .$$ A method for estimating this rate constant ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary alkyl peroxy radicals is presented.     

Resolution effects on regional climate model simulations of seasonal precipitation over Europe

We analyze a set of nine regional climate model simulations for the period 1961–2000 performed at 25 and 50 km horizontal grid spacing over a European domain in order to determine the effects of horizontal resolution on the simulation of precipitation. All of the models represent the seasonal mean spatial patterns and amount of precipitation fairly well. Most models exhibit a tendency to over-predict precipitation, resulting in a domain-average total bias for the ensemble mean of about 20% in winter (DJF) and less than 10% in summer (JJA) at both resolutions, although this bias could be artificially enhanced by the lack of a gauge correction in the observations. A majority of the models show increased precipitation at 25 km relative to 50 km over the oceans and inland seas in DJF, JJA, and ANN (annual average), although the response is strongest during JJA. The ratio of convective precipitation to total precipitation decreases over land for most models at 25 km. In addition, there is an increase in interannual variability in many of the models at 25 km grid spacing. Comparison with gridded observations indicates that a majority of models show improved skill in simulating both the spatial pattern and temporal evolution of precipitation at 25 km compared to 50 km during the summer months, but not in winter or on an annual mean basis. Model skill at higher resolution in simulating the spatial and temporal character of seasonal precipitation is found especially for Great Britain. This geographic dependence of the increased skill suggests that observed data of sufficient density are necessary to capture fine-scale climate signals. As climate models increase their horizontal resolution, it is thus a key priority to produce high quality fine scale observations for model evaluation.     

A new,valid measure of climate change understanding: associations with risk perception

The relationship between climate change understanding and other variables, including risk perception, beliefs, and worldviews, is an important consideration as we work to increase public attention to climate change. Despite significant effort to develop rigorous mechanisms for measuring affective variables, measurement of climate change understanding is often relegated to unvalidated questions or question sets. To remedy this situation, we constructed and analyzed a climate change concept inventory using a suite of validity and reliability steps, including Rasch analysis. The resultant 21-item test has a high degree of validity and reliability for measuring understanding about basic climate change processes. Inventory scores along with other variables were included in a model of climate change risk perception, providing both concurrent validity for the test and new insight into the importance of understanding, worldview, and values on risk perception. We find that environmental beliefs and cultural cognition worldview play a larger role in predicting an individual’s risk perception than knowledge. Implications for addressing climate change are considered.     

The Maoxian landslide as seen from space: detecting precursors of failure with Sentinel-1 data

Post-event Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) analysis on a stack of 45 C-band SAR images acquired by the ESA Sentinel-1 satellites from 9 October 2014 to 19 June 2017 allowed the identification of a clear precursory deformation signal for the Maoxian landslide (Mao County, Sichuan Province, China). The landslide occurred in the early morning of 24 June 2017 and killed more than 100 people in the village of Xinmo. Sentinel-1 images have been processed through an advanced multi-interferogram analysis capable of maximising the density of measurement points, generating ground deformation maps and displacement time series for an area of 460 km² straddling the Minjiang River and the Songping Gully. InSAR data clearly show the precursors of the slope failure in the source area of the Maoxian landslide, with a maximum displacement rate detected of 27 mm/year along the line of sight of the satellite. Deformation time series of measurement points identified within the main scarp of the landslide exhibit an acceleration starting from April 2017. A detailed time series analysis leads to the classification of different deformation behaviours. The Fukuzono method for forecasting the time of failure appear to be applicable to the displacement data exhibiting progressive acceleration. Results suggest that satellite radar data, systematically acquired over large areas with short revisiting time, could be used not only as a tool for mapping unstable areas, but also for landslide monitoring, at least for some typologies of sliding phenomena.     

Real-time storm detection and weather forecast activation through data mining and events processing

Each year across the USA, destructive weather events disrupt transportation and commerce, resulting in both loss of lives and property. Mitigating the impacts of such severe events requires innovative new software tools and cyberinfrastructure through which scientists can monitor data for specific severe weather events such as thunderstorms and launch focused modeling computations for prediction and forecasts of these evolving weather events. Bringing about a paradigm shift in meteorology research and education through advances in cyberinfrastructure is one of the key research objectives of the Linked Environments for Atmospheric Discovery (LEAD) project, a large-scale, interdisciplinary NSF funded project spanning ten institutions. In this paper we address the challenges of making cyberinfrastructure frameworks responsive to real-time conditions in the physical environment driven by the use cases in mesoscale meteorology. The contribution of the research is two-fold: on the cyberinfrastructure side, we propose a model for bridging between the physical environment and e-Science¹ workflow systems, specifically through events processing systems, and provide a proof of concept implementation of that model in the context of the LEAD cyberinfrastructure. On the algorithmic side, we propose efficient stream mining algorithms that can be carried out on a continuous basis in real time over large volumes of observational data. ¹ e-Science is used to describe computationally intensive science that is typically carried out in highly distributed network     

Timing and pace of ice-sheet withdrawal across the marine–terrestrial transition west of Ireland during the last glaciation

Understanding the pace and drivers of marine-based ice-sheet retreat relies upon the integration of numerical ice-sheet models with observations from contemporary polar ice sheets and well-constrained palaeo-glaciological reconstructions. This paper provides a reconstruction of the retreat of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) from the Atlantic shelf west of Ireland during and following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). It uses marine-geophysical data and sediment cores dated by radiocarbon, combined with terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide and optically stimulated luminescence dating of onshore ice-marginal landforms, to reconstruct the timing and rate of ice-sheet retreat from the continental shelf and across the adjoining coastline of Ireland, thus including the switch from a marine- to a terrestrially-based ice-sheet margin. Seafloor bathymetric data in the form of moraines and grounding-zone wedges on the continental shelf record an extensive ice sheet west of Ireland during the LGM which advanced to the outer shelf. This interpretation is supported by the presence of dated subglacial tills and overridden glacimarine sediments from across the Porcupine Bank, a westwards extension of the Irish continental shelf. The ice sheet was grounded on the outer shelf at ~26.8 ka cal bp with initial retreat underway by 25.9 ka cal bp. Retreat was not a continuous process but was punctuated by marginal oscillations until ~24.3 ka cal bp. The ice sheet thereafter retreated to the mid-shelf where it formed a large grounding-zone complex at ~23.7 ka cal bp. This retreat occurred in a glacimarine environment. The Aran Islands on the inner continental shelf were ice-free by ~19.5 ka bp and the ice sheet had become largely terrestrially based by 17.3 ka bp. This suggests that the Aran Islands acted to stabilize and slow overall ice-sheet retreat once the BIIS margin had reached the inner shelf. Our results constrain the timing of initial retreat of the BIIS from the outer shelf west of Ireland to the period of minimum global eustatic sea level. Initial retreat was driven, at least in part, by glacio-isostatically induced, high relative sea level. Net rates of ice-sheet retreat across the shelf were slow (62–19 m a⁻¹) and reduced (8 m a⁻¹) as the ice sheet vacated the inner shelf and moved onshore. A picture therefore emerges of an extensive BIIS on the Atlantic shelf west of Ireland, in which early, oscillatory retreat was followed by slow episodic retreat which decelerated further as the ice margin became terrestrially based. More broadly, this demonstrates the importance of localized controls, in particular bed topography, on modulating the retreat of marine-based sectors of ice sheets.     

North Qorveh volcanic field,western Iran: eruption styles,petrology and geological setting

Mineralogy and Petrology - In the metamorphic Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone of western Iran, the “North Qorveh Volcanic Field” is constituted by Pleistocene scoria cones and associated deposits....     

An outline of shear-sense analysis in high-grade rocks

Ductile shear zones are important in tectonic reconstructions as a source of information on the relative motion of large crustal blocks or plates in the geological past. Methods to interpret fabric in ductile shear zones were mostly developed for low grade rocks where overprinting relations are usually well preserved. However, high grade shear zones are common and dominate in many Precambrian terrains. High grade shear zones should be analysed in a different way from low grade zones. The plane on which shear sense markers should be observed, the vorticity profile plane, is more difficult to find than in low grade shear zones. The most reliable shear sense markers in high grade shear zones are shear bands, mineral fish, mantled porphyroclasts, sigmoids and asymmetric boudins.     

Agricultural performance on marginal land in Eastern Inner Mongolia,China – Development in the pre- and post-1978 reform periods

Rapid economic development in the aftermath of the Chinese post-1978 reforms has resulted in a shrinking of grain grown area in the southern and eastern regions of the country which in turn is believed to have put the marginal northern regions under increased pressure. This paper examines key indicators of agricultural performance as well as cultivated land area development of the pre- and post-1978 reform periods focusing on the agro-pastoral Tongliao City Prefecture, eastern Inner Mongolia. The results are related to the village level development through a case study as well as to the provincial level. Average annual grain per capita production increased from about 400 kg in the late 1970s to more then 1000 kg in the late 1990s. This was achieved through a combination of intensification and reclamation of cropland, with the latter restricted to pastoral classified counties. Production variability, in particular for the low producing counties, has also increased possibly as an effect of the substitution of traditional mixed pattern of crops with HYV monocultures. Average living standards have improved but have been accompanied by widening income gaps. Poor farmers’ livelihoods continue to be insecure, particularly during dry years. Concern is raised regarding the sustainability of the rapid agricultural development; an increased use of costly fertilisers constrains poorer farmer’s economy and may lead to deteriorating water quality while increasing irrigation depletes water resources.