A climatological analysis of Saharan cyclones

In this study, the climatology of Saharan cyclones is presented in order to understand the Saharan climate, its variability and its changes. This climatology includes an analysis of seasonal and interannual variations, the identification and classification of cyclone tracks, and a presentation of their chief characteristics. The data used are drawn from the 1980–2009, 2.5° × 2.5°, NCEP/NCAR reanalysis (NNRP I) dataset. It is found that cyclone numbers increase in September–October–November (SON) at 4.9 cyclones per decade, while they decrease in June–July–August at 12.3 cyclones per decade. The identification algorithm constructed 562 tracks, which are categorized into 12 distinct clusters. Around 75 % of the Saharan cyclones originate south of the Atlas Mountains. The percentage of tracks that move over the Sahara is around 48 %. The eastern Mediterranean receives 27 % of the Saharan tracks, while the western basin receives only 17 and 8 % of all the Saharan cyclones decay over the Arabian Peninsula. The maximum cyclonic activity occurs in April. There is a general decrease in the number of tracks in all categories between 1993 and 2009, compared with the period between 1980 and 1992. About 72 % of the Saharan cyclones do not live more than 3 days, and about 80 % of the cyclones in the tracks never reach central pressures 1,000 hPa during their lifetimes. The maximum deepening in the tracks occurs over the western Mediterranean and over northern Algeria.     

Origin and evolution of post-collisional volcanism: an example from Neoproterozoic Dokhan volcanics at Gabal Nugara area, Northeastern Desert, Egypt

Nugara volcanics are one of the northernmost outcrops of the Arabian?CNubian Shield. Two distinct volcanic successions are found in the Nugara basin: (1) old volcanic sequence composed of voluminous medium- to high-K calc-alkaline lavas and minor alkali basalt and (2) young volcanic sequence composed of subordinate tholeiitic mafic lavas. Their eruptions were punctuated by occasional volcaniclastic deposits that generated fall, flow, or reworked suites compositionally identical to the lava flows. These volcanics are a part of a post-subduction and extensional-related magmatic event in Northeastern Desert of Egypt. The volcanic rocks of the Nugara basin are characterized by strong enrichment in LILE relative to HESF, high LILE/HFSE ratios, and depletions of Nb on MORB-normalized multi-element diagrams. The geochemical features of the volcanic rocks suggest that they experienced fractional crystallization, along with mixing processes. Crustal contributions to the magma sources may also have occurred during magmatic evolution. These processes have resulted in scattered major and trace element variations with respect to increasing silica contents. The model proposed for their origin involves contrasting ascent paths and differentiation histories through crustal columns with different thermal and density gradients. The geochemical features of the most mafic samples suggest that the volcanic rocks in the region were derived from a mainly lithospheric mantle source that had been heterogeneously metasomatized by previous subduction events during convergence between the East and West Gondwanaland. The volcanic activity in the region is best explained by the delamination of lithospheric mantle slices that were heterogeneously enriched by previous subduction-related processes.     

Integrated remote sensing data utilization for investigating structural and tectonic history of the Ghadames Basin,Libya

This study was initiated to constrain the geological structure of the Ghadames Basin in northwest Libya. Detailed analysis was based on digital integration of surface data, including SRTM DEM, ETM+ and geologic maps with subsurface data, including well logs and potential field data. Integrated analysis of remotely sensed data of the SRTM and ETM+ were utilized to identify geologic lineaments in the area. Ground-based verification of the remote sensing data was achieved with field work. Interpretation and analysis of the lineaments indicate that the Ghadames Basin is controlled by four main fault systems that trend WNW, NNW, NW and ENE. Well logs and potential field data were used to delineate a detailed picture of the subsurface structure. The potential field data reveal two NE and NNE trending sedimentary basins. The depth of the basement inside the main basin ranges from 2 to 6 km. A two-dimensional (2-D) schematic model shows that the basin gradually deepens towards the southwest. The applied data integration gave new insight into the tectonic and structure patterns of the Ghadames Basin and the adjacent areas of northwest Libya.     

A comparison of two models to predict soil moisture from remote sensing data of RADARSAT II

This study investigates the performance of empirical and semiempirical models to predict soil moisture from the data of RADARSAT II synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for the Yarmouk basin in Jordan. Data of SAR were obtained for May and June 2010 and were processed to obtain backscatter (σ ^o ) data for the study area. Results showed significant correlations between soil moisture content (m _v ) and horizontally polarized σ ^o , with coefficient of determination (R ²) of 0.64. The root mean square error for the SAR volumetric soil moisture content was 0.09 and 0.06 m³/m³ for the empirical and semiempirical regression models, respectively. Both models had different clustering patterns in the soil moisture maps in the study area. The spatial agreement between maps of soil moisture was in the range of 55 to 65 % when the maps were reclassified based on intervals of 5 % m _v for both models. In terms of soil moisture interval, both models showed that most of soil moisture changes between the two images (dates) were in the range of ±5 %. Some high differences in ?m _v were observed between the two models. These were mainly attributed to the non-inverted pixels in the soil moisture maps produced by the semiempirical model. Therefore, this model may be applied for a limited range of soil moisture prediction. The use of regression model could predict a wider range for soil moisture when compared with the semiempirical model. However, more work might be needed to improve the empirical model before scaling it up to the whole study area.     

Accurate determination of highly eccentric orbits in earth's gravtational field with axial symmetry

In this paper, an algorithm is constructed for the determination of the perturbed motion, in both, the rectangular and the orbital elements of highly eccentric orbits in Earth's gravitational field with axial symmetry whatever the number N of the zonal harmonic coefficients may be. An application of the algorithm for the Explorer 28 satellite (e > 0.94) is given for two geopotential models corresponding to N = 2 and N = 36. In both examples extremely accurate predictions during the satellite life time are obtained.     

Third-order Uranus-Neptune theory

In this paper of the third order Uranus-Neptune planetary theory which is the third part of this work for the third order theory, we compute the Poisson brackets in the Lie series which is used to transform canonical variables. We apply Hori-Lie technique in this work and neglect all powers higher than the second in Poincaré variables H, K, P, Q. We restrict this work to the principal part of the disturbing function.     

On the elimination of the critical term in a general first-order Uranus-Neptune theory

A solution of the Uranus-Neptune planetary canonical equations of motion through the Von Zeipel technique is presented. A unique determinging function which depends upon mixed canonical variables, reduces the 12 critical terms of the Hamiltonian to the set of its secular terms. The Poincaré canonical variables are used. We refer to a common fixed plane, and apply the Jacobi-Radau set of origins. In our expansion we neglected terms of power higher than the fourth with respect to the eccentricities and sines of the inclinations.     

Assimilation of historical head data to estimate spatial distributions of stream bed and aquifer hydraulic conductivity fields

Management of water resources in alluvial aquifers relies mainly on understanding interactions between hydraulically connected streams and aquifers. Numerical models that simulate this interaction often are used as decision support tools for water resource management. However, the accuracy of numerical predictions relies heavily on unknown system parameters (e.g., streambed conductivity and aquifer hydraulic conductivity), which are spatially heterogeneous and difficult to measure directly. This paper employs an ensemble smoother to invert groundwater level measurements to jointly estimate spatially varying streambed and alluvial aquifer hydraulic conductivity along a 35.6‐km segment of the South Platte River in Northeastern Colorado. The accuracy of the inversion procedure is evaluated using a synthetic experiment and historical groundwater level measurements, with the latter constituting the novelty of this study in the inversion and validation of high‐resolution fields of streambed and aquifer conductivities. Results show that the estimated streambed conductivity field and aquifer conductivity field produce an acceptable agreement between observed and simulated groundwater levels and stream flow rates. The estimated parameter fields are also used to simulate the spatially varying flow exchange between the alluvial aquifer and the stream, which exhibits high spatial variability along the river reach with a maximum average monthly aquifer gain of about 2.3 m³/day and a maximum average monthly aquifer loss of 2.8 m³/day, per unit area of streambed (m²). These results demonstrate that data assimilation inversion provides a reliable and computationally affordable tool to estimate the spatial variability of streambed and aquifer conductivities at high resolution in real‐world systems.