Improvements on Fresnel arrays for high contrast imaging

The Fresnel Diffractive Array Imager (FDAI) is based on a new optical concept for space telescopes, developed at Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP), Toulouse, France. For the visible and near-infrared it has already proven its performances in resolution and dynamic range. We propose it now for astrophysical applications in the ultraviolet with apertures from 6 to 30 meters, aimed at imaging in UV faint astrophysical sources close to bright ones, as well as other applications requiring high dynamic range. Of course the project needs first a probatory mission at small aperture to validate the concept in space. In collaboration with institutes in Spain and Russia, we will propose to board a small prototype of Fresnel imager on the International Space Station (ISS), with a program combining technical tests and astrophysical targets. The spectral domain should contain the Lyman-α line (λ =?121 nm). As part of its preparation, we improve the Fresnel array design for a better Point Spread Function in UV, presently on a small laboratory prototype working at 260 nm. Moreover, we plan to validate a new optical design and chromatic correction adapted to UV. In this article we present the results of numerical propagations showing the improvement in dynamic range obtained by combining and adapting three methods : central obturation, optimization of the bars mesh holding the Fresnel rings, and orthogonal apodization. We briefly present the proposed astrophysical program of a probatory mission with such UV optics.     

The eccentric case of a fast-rotating,gravity-gradient-perturbed satellite attitude solution

A closed-form first-order perturbation solution for the attitude evolution of a triaxial space object in an elliptical orbit is presented. The solution, derived using the Lie–Deprit method, takes into account gravity-gradient torque and is facilitated by an assumption of fast rotation of the object. The formulation builds on the earlier implementation of Lara and Ferrer, which assumes a circular orbit. The previously presented work—which assumes spin about an object’s axis of maximum inertia—is further extended by the explicit presentation of the transformations required to apply the solution to an object spinning about its axis of minimum inertia. Additionally, several numerical analyses are presented to more completely assess the utility of the solution. These studies (1) validate the elliptical solution, (2) assess the impact of varying the small parameter of the perturbation procedure, (3) analyze the assumption of fast rotation, and (4) apply the solution to the common and important scenario of a tumbling rocket body.     

The Sun–Earth saddle point: characterization and opportunities to test general relativity

The saddle points are locations where the net gravitational accelerations balance. These regions are gathering more attention within the astrophysics community. Regions about the saddle points present clean, close-to-zero background acceleration environments where possible deviations from General Relativity can be tested and quantified. Their location suggests that flying through a saddle point can be accomplished by leveraging highly nonlinear orbits. In this paper, the geometrical and dynamical properties of the Sun–Earth saddle point are characterized. A systematic approach is devised to find ballistic orbits that experience one or multiple passages through this point. A parametric analysis is performed to consider spacecraft initially on \(L_{1,2}\) Lagrange point orbits. Sun–Earth saddle point ballistic fly-through trajectories are evaluated and classified for potential use. Results indicate an abundance of short-duration, regular solutions with a variety of characteristics.     

The Influence of Two Kinds of El Niño Events on the Strong Tropical Cyclone Generation and Strength in the Pacific Ocean

This paper focuses on the effects of two types of El Niño events on tropical cyclone activity. We classified El Niño events from 1961 to 2015 according to their sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies into an eastern type and a central type. Then we selected strong tropical cyclones to statistically analyze the tropical cyclone characteristics during different events and their effects, as well as to study the possible mechanisms related to thermodynamic and dynamic factors. The tropical cyclone generation areas were found to be very similar during the two kinds of events. The average number of tropical cyclone in the eastern event is more than that in central event, and the hurricane in northeastern Pacific (HNP) has more energy than the typhoon in northwestern Pacific (TNP) in all cases. The seasonal distribution of the TNP high-incidence centers during central El Niño events is opposite to that of the HNP. The TNP accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) intensity is similar in the fall and summer, and the HNP ACE intensity in the summer is greater than that in the fall. The SSTs are consistent with the TNP and HNP movement trends. The Walker circulation intensity was strongly affected by the eastern events, but it quickly returned to its normal state, while the intensity was slightly reduced in the central events, and it slowly returned to its normal state. The vertical velocity distributions in the Pacific are different at different stages of both events, and the distributions of vertical velocity anomalies for typhoons and hurricanes are consistent.     

The Impact of Irrigation on Bacterial Community Composition and Diversity in Liaohe Estuary Wetland

In this study, the sequencing of 16S ribosomal DNA was used to characterize the soil bacterial community composition and diversity in Liaohe estuarine wetland. Soil samples were taken from different locations in the wetland dominated by reed. Moreover, the soil quality parameters were evaluated (pH, moisture, organic matter, total nitrogen, available nitrogen, total phosphorus, available phosphorus). The results showed that the organic matter and nutrient contents were significantly higher in irrigated wetland than those in natural wetland. Major phylogenic groups of bacteria in soil samples including Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria were analyzed and we found that Proteobacteria was the most abundant in the community, and the phylum Acidobacteria was more abundant in irrigated wetland. Beta diversity analyses indicated that the soil bacterial community was mainly affected by sampling sites rather than seasons. In general, the bacterial community in natural wetland was not significantly different with that in artificial irrigated wetland. Artificial hydraulic engineering irrigated according to the water requirement rule of reed, increased the production of reeds, changed the way of wetland soil material input, but the diversity of bacterial community kept stable relatively.     

Co-dwelling,Mix-dwelling and Dis-dwelling: The Diversity Among Three Human and Livestock Dwelling Forms in Rural China

Humans and livestock have always dwelling together, especially in rural areas. Based on a multi-method approach of ethnographic fieldwork, grounded theory and one-way multivariate analysis of variance, this paper explores human and livestock dwelling. The findings show that human and livestock dwelling form a special type of human dwelling place, with forms defined as co-, mix- and dis-dwelling. Then, from co-, mix- to dis-dwelling constructed a story line to the evolution of human and livestock dwelling forms, which further explains the entire dwelling situation of humans and livestock, including the dimensions of human dweller, livestock dweller, the rural environment and special events. Among co-, mix- and dis-dwelling significant differences existed between human and livestock individuals, the nature of rural environment, vernacularity and rural tourism development. Between co- and dis-dwelling, significant differences existed in seventeen aspects; between mix- and dis-dwelling, significant differences existed in eleven aspects; meanwhile, no significant differences existed between co- and mix-dwelling. Accordingly, this suggested that human and livestock dwelling forms can be divided into mix- and dis-dwelling. This study on humans and livestock dwelling relationship offer a new perspective on rural and animal geography. This paper is an exploratory foray into rural dwelling geography as part of the Anthrozoology study and broadens the scope of extant scholarship on human dwelling morphology, as well as analyses the spatial relationships between human and livestock dwelling.     

Extreme Flood Events over the Past 300 Years Inferred from Lake Sedimentary Grain Sizes in the Altay Mountains,Northwestern China

Understanding the temporal variations of extreme floods that occur in response to climate change is essential to anticipate the trends in flood magnitude and frequency in the context of global warming. However, long-term records of paleofloods in arid regions are scarce, thus preventing a thorough understanding of such events. In this study, a reconstruction of paleofloods over the past 300 years was conducted through an analysis of grain sizes from the sediments of Kanas Lake in the Altay Mountains of northwestern China. Results showed that grain parameters and frequency distributions can be used to infer possible abrupt environmental events within the lake sedimentary sequence, and two extreme flood events corresponding to ca. 1736–1765 AD and ca. 1890 AD were further identified based on canonical discriminant analysis(CDA) and coarse percentile versus median grain size(C-M) pattern analysis, both of which occurred during warmer and wetter climate conditions by referring to tree-ring records. These two flood events are also evidenced by lake sedimentary records in the Altay and Tianshan mountains. Furthermore, through a comparison with other records, the flood event from ca. 1736–1765 AD in the study region seems to have occurred in both the arid central Asia and the Alps in Europe, and thus may have been associated with changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO) index.     

Global patterns in above-ground net primary production and precipitation-use efficiency in grasslands

The above-ground net primary production(ANPP) and the precipitation-use efficiency(PUE) regulate the carbon and water cycles in grassland ecosystems, but the relationships among the ANPP, PUE and precipitation are still controversial. We selected 717 grassland sites with ANPP and mean annual precipitation(MAP) data from 40 publications to characterize the relationships ANPP–MAP and PUE–MAP across different grassland types. The MAP and ANPP showed large variations across all grassland types, ranging from 69 to 2335 mm and 4.3 to 1706 g m~(-2), respectively. The global maximum PUE ranged from 0.19 to 1.49 g m~(-2) mm~(-1) with a unimodal pattern. Analysis using the sigmoid function explained the ANPP–MAP relationship best at the global scale. The gradient of the ANPP–MAP graph was small for arid and semi-arid sites(MAP 400 mm). This study improves our understanding of the relationship between ANPP and MAP across dry grassland ecosystems. It provides new perspectives on the prediction and modeling of variations in the ANPP for different grassland types along precipitation gradients.     

Comment on Malanson(2017) “Mixed signals in trends of variance in high-elevation tree ring chronologies” published in Journal of Mountain Science

In a recent paper published in Journal of Mountain Science, Malanson (2017) explored variance changes in Rocky Mountains tree-ring chronologies. This commentary points out some methodological issues related to systematic bias in evolving tree-ring chronology variance and suggests that analyzing the slopes of linear regression lines may be suboptimal for identifying temporal changes in variance. The journal editor invited the original article’s authors Dr. Malandson to respond to the comments. Thus Dr. Malandson’s response is attached behind the comments.     

Projections of the impacts of climate change on the water deficit and on the precipitation erosive indexes in Mantaro River Basin,Peru

Projections of climate change are essential to guide sustainable development plans in the tropical Andean countries such as Peru. This study assessed the projections of precipitation and potential evaporation, rain erosive potential, and precipitation concentration in the Mantaro River Basin, in the Peruvian Andes, which is important for agriculture and energy production in Peru. We assumed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A1B greenhouse gas emission scenario and simulated the global climate change by the HadCM3 global climate model. Due to the steepness of the mountain slopes and the narrowness of the river valley, this study uses the downscaling of the global model simulations by the regional Eta model down to 20-km resolution. The downscaling projections show decrease in the monthly precipitation with respect to the baseline period, especially during the rainy season, between February and April, until the end of the 21st century. Meanwhile, a progressive increase in the monthly evaporation from the baseline period is projected. The Modified Fournier Index (MFI) shows a statistically significant downward trend in the Mantaro River Basin, which suggests a possible reduction in the rain erosive potential. The Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI) shows a statistically significant increasing trend, which indicates increasingly more irregular temporal distribution of precipitation towards the end of the century. The results of this study allow us to conclude that there should be a gradual increase in water deficit and precipitation concentration. Both changes can be negative for agriculture, power generation, and water supply in the Mantaro River Basin in Peru.