A concept for global access to information on geographical databases

Monitoring of the ecological as well as economical aspects of the planet Earth will in future require more sophisticated data obtaining systems (e. g. satellites) and data processing devices (e. g. GIS). In order to process the great amount of data, detailed information on geographical databases has to be provided in an easy way. In this paper a concept of an information system on geographical databases is presented which encompasses a centrally managed international directory with summary information as well as local information interfaces geographical databases. An information interface provides detailed information on the extent, structure and geographical meaning of the data stored in the geographical database belonging to it. To describe this information a conceptual scheme, based on an object oriented approach, is developed.     

Some new aspects on the problem of CO2 and climate under particular consideration of the biosphere

A re-examination of the biosphere, in particular of the tropical rain forests, is necessary since there are some contradictions in our present knowledge about carbon fluxes and carbon storage in various reservoirs. Traditional land-use systems as well as modern exploitation methods in the tropical rain forest areas need not be necessarily of such a magnitude that the global carbon cycle would undergo a major upset or even a climatic catastrophe. This conclusion is primarily based on the high photosynthesis rates of the humid tropics and on the very important role of tropical river systems for carbon transport between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.After careful consideration of all known facts this paper comes to the conclusion that 2 × 10¹⁵ g/yr C are released to the atmosphere due to deforestation and burning in the tropical rain forest belt. The same amount is probably being fixed in the temperate forests and the northern ecosystems. A possible steady balance of all terrestrial ecosystems would, therefore, be the result of a particular historical constellation whereby a destruction of vegetation in the tropics would occur simultaneously to an increase of phytomass and also to a humus and peat accumulation in temperate and northern ecosystems.     

Slow subduction of old lithosphere in the lesser antilles

The Lesser Antilles subduction zone is an extreme case of the subduction of old (~ 90 m.y.) lithosphere at a slow (~ 2 cm/y) convergence rate. Focal mechanisms of the largest earthquakes in the area have been obtained using body and surface wave data. During the time period (1950–1978) studied the subduction seismicity appears to represent primarily intraplate rather than interplate deformation. All three large (magnitude seven) earthquakes were from intraplate normal faults; no large thrust faulting earthquakes and few small ones occurred. These observations suggest that the plate boundary is largely decoupled, that subduction is at least partially aseismic, and that the downgoing slab is in a state of extension.     

Quality control algorithms for rainfall measurements

One of the basic requirements for a scientific use of rain data from raingauges, ground and space radars is data quality control. Rain data could be used more intensively in many fields of activity (meteorology, hydrology, etc.), if the achievable data quality could be improved. This depends on the available data quality delivered by the measuring devices and the data quality enhancement procedures. To get an overview of the existing algorithms a literature review and literature pool have been produced. The diverse algorithms have been evaluated to meet VOLTAIRE objectives and sorted in different groups. To test the chosen algorithms an algorithm pool has been established, where the software is collected. A large part of this work presented here is implemented in the scope of the EU-project VOLTAIRE (Validation of multisensors precipitation fields and numerical modeling in Mediterranean test sites).     

Thermal surface characteristics of coal fires 1 results of in-situ measurements

Natural underground coal fires are fires in coal seams occurring subsurface. The fires are ignited through a process named spontaneous combustion, which occurs based on a natural reaction but is usually triggered through human interaction. Coal mining activities expose coal to the air. This leads to the exothermal oxidation of the carbon in the coal with the air's oxygen to CO₂ and – under certain circumstances – to spontaneous combustion. Coal fires occur in many countries world wide – however, currently the Chinese coal mining industry faces the biggest problems with coal fires. Coal fires destroy the valuable resource coal and furthermore lead to many environmental degradation phenomena such as the deterioration of surrounding vegetation, land subsidence and the emission of toxic gasses (CO, N₂O). They additionally contribute to the emission of green house relevant gasses such as CO₂ and CH₄ to the atmosphere.In this paper we present thermal characteristics of coal fires as measured in-situ during a field campaign to the Wuda coal fire area in south-central Inner Mongolia, China. Thermal characteristics include temperature anomaly measurements at the surface, spatial surface temperature profiles of fire areas and unaffected background areas, diurnal temperature profiles, and temperature measurements inside of coal fire induced cracks in the overlying bedrock. For all the measurements the effects of uneven solar heating through influences of slope and aspect are considered.Our findings show that coal fires result in strong or subtle thermal surface anomalies. Especially the latter can easily be influenced by heating of the surrounding background material through solar influences. Temperature variation of background rocks with different albedo, slope, aspect or vegetation cover can substantially influence the detectability of thermal anomalies. In the worst case coal fire related thermal anomalies can be completely masked by solar patterns during the daytime. Thus, night-time analysis is the most suitable for thermal anomaly mapping of underground coal fires, although this is not always feasible. The heat of underground coal fires only progresses very slowly through conduction in the rock material. Anomalies of coal fires completely covered by solid unfractured bedrock are very weak and were only measured during the night. The thermal pattern of underground coal fires manifested on the surface during the daytime is thus the pattern of cracks and vents, which occur due to the volume loss underground and which support radiation and convective energy transport of hot gasses. Inside coal fire temperatures can hardly be measured and can only be recorded if the glowing coal is exposed through a wider crack in the overlaying bedrock. Direct coal fire temperatures measured ranged between 233 °C and 854 °C. The results presented can substantially support the planning of thermal mapping campaigns, analyses of coal fire thermal anomalies in remotely sensed data, and can provide initial and boundary conditions for coal fire related numerical modeling.In a second paper named “Thermal Characteristics of Coal Fires 2: results of measurements on simulated coal fires” [Zhang J., Kuenzer C., Tetzlaff A., Oettl D., Zhukov B., Wagner W., 2007. Thermal Characteristics of Coal Fires 2: Result of measurements on simulated coal fires. Accepted for publication at Journal of Applied Geophysics. doi:10.1016/j.jappgeo.2007.08.003] we report about thermal characteristics of simulated coal fires simulated under simplified conditions. The simulated set up allowed us to measure even more parameters under undisturbed conditions — especially inside fire temperatures. Furthermore we could demonstrate the differences between open surface coal fires and covered underground coal fires. Thermal signals of coal fires in near range thermal remotely sensed imagery from an observing tower and from an airplane are presented and discussed.     

The 1631 Vesuvius eruption. A reconstruction based on historical and stratigraphical data

The eruption of 1631 A.D. was the most violent and destructive event in the recent history of Vesuvius. More than fifty primary documents, written in either Italian or Latin, were critically examined, with preference given to the authors who eyewitnessed volcanic phenomena. The eruption started at 7 a.m. on December 16 with the formation of an eruptive column and was followed by block and lapilli fallout east and northeast of the volcano until 6 p.m. of the same day. At 10 a.m. on December 17, several nuées ardentes were observed to issue from the central crater, rapidly descending the flanks of the cone and devastating the villages at the foot of Vesuvius. In the night between the 16th and 17th and on the afternoon of the 17th, extensive lahars and floods, resulting from rainstorms, struck the radial valleys of the volcano as well as the plain north and northeast.Deposits of the eruption were identified in about 70 localities on top of an ubiquitous paleosol formed during a long preeruptive volcanic quiescence. The main tephra unit consists of a plinian fallout composed of moderately vesicular dark green lapilli, crystals and lithics. Isopachs of the fallout are elongated eastwards and permit a conservative volume calculation of 0.07 km³. The peak mass flux deduced from clast dispersal models is estimated in the range 3–6 × 10⁷ kg/s, corresponding to a column height of 17–21 km. East of the volcano the plinian fallout is overlain by ash-rich low-grade ignimbrite, surges, phreatomagmatic ashes and mud flows. Ash flows occur in paleovalleys around the cone of Vesuvius but are lacking on the Somma side, suggesting that pyroclastic flows had not enough energy to overpass the caldera wall of Mt. Somma. Deposits are generally unconsolidated, massive with virtually no ground layer and occasionally bearing sparse rests of charred vegetation. Past interpretations of the products emitted on the morning of December 17 as lava flows are inconsistent with both field observations and historical data. Features of the final phreatomagmatic ashes are suggestive of alternating episodes of wet ash fallout and rainfalls. Lahars interfingered with primary ash fallout confirm episodes of massive remobilization of loose tephra by heavy rainfalls during the final stage of the eruption.Chemical analyses of scoria clasts suggest tapping of magma from a compositionally zoned reservoir. Leucite-bearing, tephritic-phonolite (SiO₂ 51.17%) erupted in the early plinian phase was in fact followed by darker and slightly more mafic magma richer in crystals (SiO₂ 49.36%). During the nuées ardentes phase the composition returned to that of the early phase of the eruption.The reconstruction of the 1631 eruptive scenario supplies new perspectives on the hazards related to plinian eruptions of Vesuvius.     

Geodynamic implications of deep mantle upwelling in the source of Tertiary volcanics from the Veneto region (South-Eastern Alps)

Major and trace element and Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotopic data for the most primitive Tertiary lavas from the Veneto region (South-Eastern Alps, Italy) show the typical features of HIMU hotspot volcanism, variably diluted by a depleted asthenospheric mantle component (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i=0.70306–0.70378; _Ndi=+3.9 to +6.8; _Hfi=+6.4 to +8.1, ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_i=18.786–19.574). P-wave seismic tomography of the mantle below the Veneto region shows the presence of low-velocity anomalies at depth, which is consistent with possible upwellings of plume material. Between the depths of 100–250 km the velocity anomalies are approximately 2–2.5% slower than average, implying a temperature excess of about 220–280 K, in agreement with estimates for other mantle plumes in the world. In this context, the Veneto volcanics may represent the shallow expression of a mantle upflow. The presence of a HIMU-DM component in a collision environment has significant geodynamic implications. Slab detachment and ensuing rise of deep mantle material into the lithospheric gap is proposed to be a viable mechanism of hotspot magmatism in a subduction zone setting.     

Chemical Mechanism Development: Laboratory Studies and Model Applications

Within the German Tropospheric Research Programme (TFS) numerous kinetic and mechanistic studies on the tropospheric reaction/degradation of the following reactants were carried out: oxygenated VOC, aromatic VOC, biogenic VOC, short-lived intermediates, such as alkoxy and alkylperoxy radicals.At the conception of the projects these selected groups were classes of VOC or intermediates for which the atmospheric oxidation mechanisms were either poorly characterised or totally unknown. The motivation for these studies was the attainment of significant improvements in our understanding of the atmospheric chemical oxidation processes of these compounds, particularly with respect to their involvement in photooxidant formation in the troposphere. In the present paper the types of experimental investigations performed and the results obtained within the various projects are briefly summarised. The major achievements are highlighted and discussed in terms of their contribution to improving our understanding of the chemical processes controlling photosmog formation in the troposphere.     

Processing and quality control of flux data during LITFASS-2003

Different aspects of the quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) of micrometeorological measurements were combined to create a comprehensive algorithm which was then applied to experimental data from LITFASS-2003 (Lindenberg Inhomogeneous Terrain—Fluxes between Atmosphere and Surface: a long term Study). Eddy-covariance measurements of the latent heat flux were the main focus of the QA/QC efforts. The results of a turbulence sensor intercomparison experiment showed deviations between the different eddy-covariance systems on the order of 15%, or less than 30 W m⁻², for the latent heat flux and 5%, or less than 10 W m⁻², for the sensible heat flux. In order to avoid uncertainties due to the post-processing of turbulence data, a comprehensive software package was used for the analysis of experimental data from LITFASS-2003, including all necessary procedures for corrections and quality control. An overview of the quality test results shows that for most of the days more than 80% of the available latent heat flux data are of high quality so long as there are no instrumental problems. The representativeness of a flux value for the target land-use type was analysed using a stochastic footprint model. Different methods to calculate soil heat fluxes at the surface are discussed and a sensitivity analysis is conducted to select the most robust method for LITFASS-2003. The lack of energy balance closure, which was found for LITFASS-2003, can probably be attributed to the presence of low-frequency flux contributions that cannot be resolved with an averaging time of 30 min. Though the QA/QC system has been developed for the requirements of LITFASS-2003, it can also be applied to other experiments dealing with similar objectives.