BIFoR FACE: Water–soil–vegetation–atmosphere data from a temperate deciduous forest catchment,including under elevated CO2

The ecosystem services provided by forests modulate runoff generation processes, nutrient cycling and water and energy exchange between soils, vegetation and atmosphere. Increasing atmospheric CO₂ affects many linked aspects of forest and catchment function in ways we do not adequately understand. Global levels of atmospheric CO₂ will be around 40% higher in 2050 than current levels, yet estimates of how water and solute fluxes in forested catchments will respond to increased CO₂ are highly uncertain. The Free Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) facility of the University of Birmingham's Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) is the only FACE in mature deciduous forest. The site specializes in fundamental studies of the response of whole ecosystem patches of mature, deciduous, temperate woodland to elevated CO₂ (eCO₂). Here, we describe a dataset of hydrological parameters – seven weather parameters at each of three heights and four locations, shallow soil moisture and temperature, stream hydrology and CO₂ enrichment – retrieved at high frequency from the BIFoR FACE catchment.     

Predicted interplanetary shocks/particles at Mars compared with in-situ observations: An overview

The biological and technological consequences of long-duration, solar-related, energetic particle radiation for manned/unmanned spacecraft warrant that consideration be given to providing reliable space weather predictions for future space missions to planet Mars. An account is, herein, provided of how the HAFv.2 numerical model was applied to predict the arrivals of four, flare-related, shocks at Mars generated during a >20-day active period on the Sun in March 1989, and of the arrival of another composite shock produced in association with a 10-day period of solar activity in December 2006. These predictions are compared with in-situ measurements of shock signatures at Mars recorded, in the former case, by the solar-low-energy-detector (SLED) and by the low-energy-telescope (LET) aboard the Phobos-2 spacecraft and, in the latter case, in data recorded by the ASPERA-3/IMA instrument aboard Mars Express. The success of the predictions is discussed and the requirement for further validation of the modeling technique using a large statistical sample pointed out. In-situ measurements made aboard Mars Express by the ASPERA-3/IMA experiment during the rising phase of Solar Cycle 24 can provide data relevant to such validation. The successful application of a SOLar Particle ENgineering COde (SOLPENCO), that estimates solar energetic particle (SEP) fluxes and fluences at the Earth, to the case of an energetic particle event at Mars (6 March 1989) is discussed. Measurements of SEP events recorded by the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) supplemented by Mars Express measurements can potentially allow the predictions of SOLPENCO to be further studied downstream using a large statistical sample. However, we are presently only at the beginning of our understanding of the complex Sun-Earth-Mars scenarios that give rise to shock/particle events in the close Martian environment.     

Permafrost at the time of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in North America

This paper presents three maps that summarize current knowledge as to the extent of Past permafrost and Relict permafrost in North America at approximately the time of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; c. 25–17 ka BP) and during subsequent deglaciation until c. 10 ka BP. Analysis of the post‐1983 literature suggests that the extent of Past permafrost south of the LGM limit was broader in eastern North America and slightly narrower in the Interior Great Plains than previously mapped. The recognition and dating of Relict permafrost in the nonglaciated terrain of the northwestern Arctic suggests that permafrost may be of great antiquity and can persist under changing climatic conditions. The formation of permafrost features during deglaciation suggests that ice‐proximal climatic conditions remained cold at least long enough for short‐lived permafrost aggradation; a latitudinal gradient is evident in the timing of its development as the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated.     

Cyclone Frame Prediction by Gaussian Mixture Modeling of the Three Penultimate Time-Lapse Frames

A fast cyclone frame prediction is proposed in this paper that fits a Gaussian Mixture model on the spatio-temporal data extracted from the three penultimate time-lapse frames, prior to fuzzy regression. Unlike the previous work in Verma and Pal (In: Applied Imagery Pattern Recognition Workshop (AIPR), pp. 1–8, 2010) that models the entire history on a per pixel basis, a single Gaussian mixture is used for fitting the spatio-temporal data within the time-span of the last three frames, making the process faster and more accurate. The increase in accuracy is attributed to the fact that cyclones evolve over time and thus the recent frames give a more meaningful insight into the predictions for the next frame. The number of components in the Gaussian mixture is determined from the occurrence of equally likely modes that correspond to high entropy peaks. Our results on satellite videos of recent cyclones that hit the Indian seas show a high accuracy of frame prediction.     

Impact of data model and point density on aboveground forest biomass estimation from airborne LiDAR

Background

Accurate estimation of aboveground forest biomass (AGB) and its dynamics is of paramount importance in understanding the role of forest in the carbon cycle and the effective implementation of climate change mitigation policies. LiDAR is currently the most accurate technology for AGB estimation. LiDAR metrics can be derived from the 3D point cloud (echo-based) or from the canopy height model (CHM). Different sensors and survey configurations can affect the metrics derived from the LiDAR data. We evaluate the ability of the metrics derived from the echo-based and CHM data models to estimate AGB in three different biomes, as well as the impact of point density on the metrics derived from them.

Results

Our results show that differences among metrics derived at different point densities were significantly different from zero, with a larger impact on CHM-based than echo-based metrics, particularly when the point density was reduced to 1 point m^?2. Both data models-echo-based and CHM-performed similarly well in estimating AGB at the three study sites. For the temperate forest in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA, R² ranged from 0.79 to 0.8 and RMSE (relRMSE) from 69.69 (35.59%) to 70.71 (36.12%) Mg ha^?1 for the echo-based model and from 0.76 to 0.78 and 73.84 (37.72%) to 128.20 (65.49%) Mg ha^?1 for the CHM-based model. For the moist tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, the models gave R² ranging between 0.70 and 0.71 and RMSE between 30.08 (12.36%) and 30.32 (12.46) Mg ha^?1 [between 0.69–0.70 and 30.42 (12.50%) and 61.30 (25.19%) Mg ha^?1] for the echo-based [CHM-based] models. Finally, for the Atlantic forest in the Sierra do Mar, Brazil, R² was between 0.58–0.69 and RMSE between 37.73 (8.67%) and 39.77 (9.14%) Mg ha^?1 for the echo-based model, whereas for the CHM R² was between 0.37–0.45 and RMSE between 45.43 (10.44%) and 67.23 (15.45%) Mg ha^?1.

Conclusions

Metrics derived from the CHM show a higher dependence on point density than metrics derived from the echo-based data model. Despite the median of the differences between metrics derived at different point densities differing significantly from zero, the mean change was close to zero and smaller than the standard deviation except for very low point densities (1 point m^?2). The application of calibrated models to estimate AGB on metrics derived from thinned datasets resulted in less than 5% error when metrics were derived from the echo-based model. For CHM-based metrics, the same level of error was obtained for point densities higher than 5 points m^?2. The fact that reducing point density does not introduce significant errors in AGB estimates is important for biomass monitoring and for an effective implementation of climate change mitigation policies such as REDD + due to its implications for the costs of data acquisition. Both data models showed similar capability to estimate AGB when point density was greater than or equal to 5 point m^?2.

     

Effect of solution saturation state and temperature on diopside dissolution

Steady-state dissolution rates of diopside are measured as a function of solution saturation state using a titanium flow-through reactor at pH 7.5 and temperature ranging from 125 to 175°C. Diopside dissolved stoichiometrically under all experimental conditions and rates were not dependent on sample history. At each temperature, rates continuously decreased by two orders of magnitude as equilibrium was approached and did not exhibit a dissolution plateau of constant rates at high degrees of undersaturation. The variation of diopside dissolution rates with solution saturation can be described equally well with a ion exchange model based on transition state theory or pit nucleation model based on crystal growth/dissolution theory from 125 to 175°C. At 175°C, both models over predict dissolution rates by two orders of magnitude indicating that a secondary phase precipitated in the experiments. The ion exchange model assumes the formation of a Si-rich, Mg-deficient precursor complex. Lack of dependence of rates on steady-state aqueous calcium concentration supports the formation of such a complex, which is formed by exchange of protons for magnesium ions at the surface. Fit to the experimental data yields where the Mg-H exchange coefficient, n = 1.39, the apparent activation energy, E _a = 332 kJ mol^-1, and the apparent rate constant, k = 10^41.2 mol diopside cm^-2 s^-1. Fits to the data with the pit nucleation model suggest that diopside dissolution proceeds through retreat of steps developed by nucleation of pits created homogeneously at the mineral surface or at defect sites, where homogeneous nucleation occurs at lower degrees of saturation than defect-assisted nucleation. Rate expressions for each mechanism (i) were fit to where the step edge energy (α) for homogeneously nucleated pits were higher (275 to 65 mJ m^-2) than the pits nucleated at defects (39 to 65 mJ m^-2) and the activation energy associated with the temperature dependence of site density and the kinetic coefficient for homogeneously nucleated pits (E_{b-homogeneous} = 2.59 × 10^-16 mJ K^-1) were lower than the pits nucleated at defects (E_{b-defect assisted} = 8.44 × 10^-16 mJ K^-1).     

Simulating flash heating in a muffle tube furnace

Abstract— Very rapid heating is an important chondrule-formation process, and it has not been clear whether conventional equipment, such as a muffle tube furnace, is adequate for the simulation of heating on a timescale of seconds. We present a method for measuring the internal temperature reached by a charge during rapid heating when the thermocouple response lags. We have constrained charge temperatures by monitoring the time required to melt metal wires of various compositions and melting points placed inside charges with furnace temperature at 1400, 1500, and 1600 °C. The times required for melting of the metal wires define the temperature paths inside the charges. At 1400 °C, a charge takes 31 s to reach 1399 °C; at 1500 °C, a charge takes 10 s to reach 1495 °C; and at 1600 °C, a charge takes 6 s to reach 1538 °C. Heating rates in vertical muffle tube furnaces are adequate for studying flash melting processes (i.e., of «1 min duration) invoked, for example, in the formation of chondrules.     

Space weathering on the Moon: Patina on Apollo 17 samples 75075 and 76015

Abstract— We studied patinas on lunar rocks 75075 and 76015 from the Apollo collection using a multi-disciplinary approach, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), wavelength-dispersive x-ray (WDS) mapping, Mössbauer spectroscopy, spectral reflectance, and microspectrophotometry. Based on SEM petrography, we have defined three textural types of patina: glazed, fragmental, and classic (cratered). The presence of classic patina is diagnostic of lunar samples that have been exposed directly to the space weathering environment. It is characterized by the presence of microcraters and glass pancakes and is the patina type studied by earlier workers. Classic patina is found on 76015 but not on 75075. Glazed patina is found on both 76015 and 75075, whereas fragmental patina is found only on 75075. The glazed and fragmental patinas on 75075 were probably formed as a result of relatively large nearby impacts; and although these two types of patina are not strictly the result of direct exposure to the space weathering environment, they are important because they affect the optical properties of the rocks. Field emission gun SEM (FE-SEM) of classic patina on 76015 shows evidence of possible solar wind sputtering erosion. Transmission electron microscope studies of 76015 reveal the presence of impact-generated deposits and solar flare particle tracks which, like microcraters and pancakes, are diagnostic of direct exposure to space weathering processes. The outermost surface of the 76015 patina consists of an amorphous rim very much like the rims found on individual lunar soil grains; this amorphous patina rim probably formed by similar processes of impact-generated vapor condensation and possible sputter deposition. Wavelength-dispersive x-ray element maps of polished thin sections of 75075 and 76015 indicate that patina compositions are poor indicators of the compositions and mineralogies of the rocks underlying them. On average, the reflectance spectra of patinas on both samples are slightly darker than those of their unweathered equivalents. Microreflectance measurements show that a thick patina can dramatically alter the optical properties of the rock on which it forms. The backscatter Mössbauer (BaMS) spectrum of a patina-covered surface of 76015 is very similar to that of an unweathered surface, indicating that the Mössbauer signal is generated from beneath the patina. Because BaMS “sees” through surface space-weathering effects to the underlying rock, this technique has great potential for use in robotic missions to other planetary bodies.     

Coral Transplantation: A Useful Management Tool or Misguided Meddling?

The primary objectives of coral transplantation are to improve reef ‘quality' in terms of live coral cover, biodiversity and topographic complexity. Stated reasons for transplanting corals have been to: (1) accelerate reef recovery after ship groundings, (2) replace corals killed by sewage, thermal effluents or other pollutants, (3) save coral communities or locally rare species threatened by pollution, land reclamation or pier construction, (4) accelerate recovery of reefs after damage by Crown-of-thorns starfish or red tides, (5) aid recovery of reefs following dynamite fishing or coral quarrying, (6) mitigate damage caused by tourists engaged in water-based recreational activities, and (7) enhance the attractiveness of underwater habitat in tourism areas. Whether coral transplantation is likely to be effective from a biological standpoint depends on, among other factors, the water quality, exposure, and degree of substrate consolidation of the receiving area. Whether it is necessary (apart from cases related to reason 3 above), depends primarily on whether the receiving area is failing to recruit naturally.

The potential benefits and dis-benefits of coral transplantation are examined in the light of the results of research on both coral transplantation and recruitment with particular reference to a 4.5 year study in the Maldives. We suggest that in general, unless receiving areas are failing to recruit juvenile corals, natural recovery processes are likely to be sufficient in the medium to long term and that transplantation should be viewed as a tool of last resort. We argue that there has been too much focus on transplanting fast-growing branching corals, which in general naturally recruit well but tend to survive transplantation and re-location relatively poorly, to create short-term increases in live coral cover, at the expense of slow-growing massive corals, which generally survive transplantation well but often recruit slowly. In those cases where transplantation is justified, we advocate that a reversed stance, which focuses on early addition of slowly recruiting massive species to the recovering community, rather than a short-term and sometimes short-lived increase in coral cover, may be more appropriate in many cases.